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Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:41:58 GMT2015-03-03T22:41:58Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Netanyahu tells Congress: Iran nuclear deal 'will be a farewell to arms control'http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/netanyuahu-congress-iran-nuclear-deal-path-to-bomb
<p>Israeli prime minister received loud applause in Congress and Barack Obama issued a stinging rebuttal saying Netanyahu had said ‘nothing new’ <br></p><p>Binyamin Netanyahu has urged a packed US Congress to resist an emerging deal to contain Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons in a fiery speech that may significantly complicate ongoing international negotiations in Switzerland.</p><p>Despite a boycott by up to a quarter of House Democrats and eight senators, the Israeli prime minister received loud applause from both sides of the joint meeting of Congress when he pleaded with them to block any lifting of economic sanctions in return.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/mar/03/netanyahu-speech-congress-iran-nuclear-annotated">Between the lines of Binyamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/01/israel-election-labor-challenger-catches-up-netanyahu">Israel election: Labor challenger catches up with Netanyahu as vote nears</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/netanyuahu-congress-iran-nuclear-deal-path-to-bomb">Continue reading...</a>Binyamin NetanyahuUS CongressUS politicsRepublicansDemocratsHouse of representativesUS SenateJohn BoehnerObama administrationIranIsraelWorld newsMiddle East and North AfricaTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:07:29 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/netanyuahu-congress-iran-nuclear-deal-path-to-bombDan Roberts in Washington, Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem and Saeed Kamali Dehghan2015-03-03T21:07:29ZBecky Watts' family horrified at discovery of body partshttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/becky-watts-family-horrified-at-discovery-of-body-parts
<p>Police given extra time to question man and woman held on suspicion of kidnap and murder while five others are in custody on suspicion of involvement in the killing</p><p><br /></p><p>The family of the Bristol teenager Becky Watts have expressed horror at the brutality of her murder after body parts were found at a house almost two weeks after she vanished.</p><p>Barton Court, Bristol, where the remains of 16 yr old Becky Watts have been found. <a href="http://t.co/hQTzmALHvz">pic.twitter.com/hQTzmALHvz</a></p><p>Becky murder - police seizing the bins from the area where body parts have been found. <a href="http://t.co/3B99O4d1cU">http://t.co/3B99O4d1cU</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/becky-watts-family-horrified-at-discovery-of-body-parts">Continue reading...</a>UK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:32:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/becky-watts-family-horrified-at-discovery-of-body-partsSteven Morris2015-03-03T18:32:27ZPhone hacking at Mirror titles was on industrial scale, court toldhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/phone-hacking-widespread-mirror-titles-court-told
<p>One journalist hacked phones of 100 celebrities every day for 18 months, says barrister acting for victims including Sadie Frost and Paul Gascoigne</p><p>The “industrial scale” of phone hacking at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People made the News of the World look like a “small cottage industry” in comparison, the high court in London has heard. Scores of celebrities, including the actor Sadie Frost and ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, were targeted thousands of times by journalists using the illegal practice from mid-1999 until 2009, it was claimed.<br /></p><p>In the first hint of the true extent of phone hacking at the three titles, the court heard that the former Sunday Mirror journalist Dan Evans hacked about 100 celebrities every day from 2003 to mid-2004. Such was the reliance on phone hacking for stories that one senior journalist was desperate for Evans to create “an enigma-type machine that would automatically crack pin codes”, the court was told.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/phone-hacking-widespread-mirror-titles-court-told">Continue reading...</a>UK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:10:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/phone-hacking-widespread-mirror-titles-court-toldJosh Halliday2015-03-03T18:10:55ZUK should begin decriminalising drugs, say Richard Branson and Nick Clegghttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/uk-should-begin-decriminalising-drugs-richard-branson-nick-clegg
<p>Virgin founder and deputy prime minister argue that ‘war on drugs’ has failed and urge UK to follow Portuguese example</p><p>Sir Richard Branson and Nick Clegg are urging the UK to begin decriminalising the use and possession of almost all drugs, following the example of Portugal.</p><p>The Virgin founder and deputy prime minister are to address a conference on fighting drug addiction on Wednesday, and in a Guardian article they argue that the “war on drugs” has failed.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/war-on-drugs-british-politicians-nick-clegg-richard-branson">We have been losing the war on drugs for four decades – end it now | Nick Clegg and Richard Branson</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/uk-should-begin-decriminalising-drugs-richard-branson-nick-clegg">Continue reading...</a>Drugs policyDrugsUK newsPortugalEuropeWorld newsRichard BransonNick CleggTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/uk-should-begin-decriminalising-drugs-richard-branson-nick-cleggPatrick Wintour, political editor2015-03-03T22:00:09ZIndia bans TV stations from showing interview with man who raped studenthttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/india-outraged-interview-man-convicted-gang-rape-student
<p>Mukesh Singh, convicted of brutal rape of Jyoti Singh in 2012, told British documentary victim would not have been killed if she hadn’t fought back</p><p>Indian authorities ordered television stations not to broadcast a documentary about a gang rape on a New Delhi bus in which one of the attackers blames the victim and says she could have avoided being killed if she had not fought back, a government official said.</p><p>The order came after many in the country reacted with shock after national television channels broadcast some scenes from the British documentary featuring an interview with one of the men involved in the brutal gang-rape of a physiotherapy student.<br /></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/29/india-gang-rape-society">Angered India demands change after gang rape exposes a society in crisis</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/01/indias-daughter-documentary-rape-delhi-women-indian-men-attitudes">India’s Daughter: ‘I made a film on rape in India. Men’s brutal attitudes truly shocked me’</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/indian-women-delhi-rape-film-rapist-indias-daughter">Indian women found their voice after the Delhi rape. Could this film help silence them again? | Nilanjana S Roy</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/india-outraged-interview-man-convicted-gang-rape-student">Continue reading...</a>IndiaRapeWorld newsSocietyTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:26:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/india-outraged-interview-man-convicted-gang-rape-studentMaseeh Rahman in Delhi2015-03-03T21:26:59ZBritish Royal Marine dies fighting Isis militants in Syria – reportshttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/uk-investigates-reports-that-british-man-has-died-fighting-isis-in-syria
<p>Man believed to have been killed on Monday in Al-Hol in Hasaka province, near border with Iraq</p><p>A former British Royal Marine has died fighting for Kurdish forces who are battling Islamic State in northern Syria, according to Kurdish political sources.</p><p>The UK government had said earlier on Tuesday that it was investigating reports that a British man had died fighting Islamic State militants in Syria.</p><p>A YPG commander in Rojava - Northeastern Syria - tells me that one of their UK volunteers has been killed in battle against ISIS.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/uk-investigates-reports-that-british-man-has-died-fighting-isis-in-syria">Continue reading...</a>MilitarySyriaKurdsUK newsIslamic State (Isis)Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:15:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/uk-investigates-reports-that-british-man-has-died-fighting-isis-in-syriaMatthew Taylor, Ben Quinn and Fazel Hawramy2015-03-03T22:15:02ZProfessionals blamed Oxfordshire girls for their sexual abuse, report findshttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/professionals-blamed-oxfordshire-girls-for-their-sexual-abuse-report-finds
<p>Serious case review says mindset that girls were ‘difficult’ allowed gang rape to continue, with victims perhaps totalling more than 370 <br></p><p>Police and social workers in Oxfordshire had a tainted perception that girls as young as 11 consented to sex with men who raped and brutalised them, an independent report into the failure to stop their exploitation has said.</p><p>Throughout their interactions with six young girls in Oxford, professionals struggled with the law on consent, failing to understand that such was the power of the grooming process the children had no power to say no to gang rape, sexual torture and violence. </p><p>I went to the police, blood all over me, soaked through my trousers to the crotch. They dismissed it as me being naughty</p><p>Social workers asked me questions which showed they knew</p><p>I wouldn't ever have said no - they'd have beaten the shit out of me</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/professionals-blamed-oxfordshire-girls-for-their-sexual-abuse-report-finds">Continue reading...</a>Child protectionRapeCrimeOxfordUK newsChildrenLawSocial careTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:44:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/professionals-blamed-oxfordshire-girls-for-their-sexual-abuse-report-findsSandra Laville2015-03-03T15:44:44ZHSBC files: MPs call in top executives over Swiss revelationshttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/top-bank-executives-questioning-over-hsbc-files
<p>Senior figures at bank including current BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead ordered to appear before public accounts committee over Swiss operation<br></p><p>Two senior HSBC executives and non-executive Rona Fairhead, the BBC Trust chair, have been ordered to appear before MPs for a fresh hearing on the bank’s Swiss operation.</p><p>The public accounts committee, chaired by the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, has requested evidence at a hearing next Monday from a group including the chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, the former head of HSBC’s global private banking division Chris Meares, and Fairhead, the former chair of the bank’s audit committee and current chair of its North American division.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/top-bank-executives-questioning-over-hsbc-files">Continue reading...</a>HSBCUK newsBankingEuropeBusinessPoliticsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:51:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/top-bank-executives-questioning-over-hsbc-filesJames Ball2015-03-03T13:51:07ZPaul Gambaccini: police used me as 'flypaper' for almost a yearhttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/03/paul-gambaccini-police-flypaper-for-almost-a-year-abuse-mps-bail-limit
<p>BBC Radio DJ tells MPs of his support for police bail limit of 28 days, after his bail was extended seven times in 2014, costing £200,000 in earnings and legal costs</p><p>The broadcaster Paul Gambaccini has told MPs he was used as human “flypaper” by prosecutors for almost a year in relation to a now-dropped allegation of historic sex abuse, with his arrest publicised in the hope that other people would come forward to make allegations against him.</p><p>Gambaccini told the Commons home affairs select committee on Tuesday that he ”enthusiastically supported” moves to introduce a 28-day limit on the use of police bail after being unable to work for an entire year because of the publicity surrounding the ”completely fictitious” allegation. </p><p>You are exposed, in the first place, so that other people will accuse you… You can see the pattern in all the cases.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/03/paul-gambaccini-police-flypaper-for-almost-a-year-abuse-mps-bail-limit">Continue reading...</a>UK newsPoliceBBCRadioTelevision & radioJimmy SavileLawStephen FryTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:59:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/03/paul-gambaccini-police-flypaper-for-almost-a-year-abuse-mps-bail-limitAlan Travis, home affairs editor2015-03-03T18:59:42ZLondon man accused of aiding al-Qaida faces life sentence in US after extraditionhttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/london-man-al-qaida-extradited-new-york-faces-life-sentence
<p>Ming Quang Pham is charged with several counts stemming from his alleged training and propaganda work with al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula</p><p>A London-based web designer who is accused of training for terrorism and working as a propagandist for al-Qaida is facing a possible life sentence in a US prison after being extradited to New York, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.</p><p>Minh Quang Pham is charged with possessing and using an AK-47 rifle “in furtherance of crimes of violence”, receiving military-style training and providing support to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based branch of the terrorist network.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/london-man-al-qaida-extradited-new-york-faces-life-sentence">Continue reading...</a>New YorkAl-QaidaUS crimeLondonUS newsWorld newsUK newsAnwar al-AwlakiTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:08:52 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/london-man-al-qaida-extradited-new-york-faces-life-sentenceJon Swaine2015-03-03T21:08:52ZAfghanistan officials sanctioned murder, torture and rape, says reporthttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/afghanistan-allies-sanctioned-torture-murder-report-human-rights-watch
<p>Human Rights Watch accuses high-ranking officials of allowing extrajudicial killings and brutal practices to flourish after fall of Taliban</p><p>Top Afghan officials have presided over murders, abduction, and other abuses with the tacit backing of their government and its western allies, Human Rights Watch says in a new report.</p><p>A grim account of deaths, robbery, rapes and extrajudicial killings, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/03/afghanistan-abusive-strongmen-escape-justice">Today We Shall All Die</a>, details a culture of impunity that the rights group says flourished after the fall of the Taliban, driven by the desire for immediate control of security at almost any price. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/afghanistan-allies-sanctioned-torture-murder-report-human-rights-watch">Continue reading...</a>AfghanistanTalibanHuman rightsTortureWorld newsUS foreign policyUS militaryHamid KarzaiTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:31:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/afghanistan-allies-sanctioned-torture-murder-report-human-rights-watchEmma Graham-Harrison in Kabul2015-03-03T14:31:46ZMourners bid farewell to Boris Nemtsov, but fear their hopes have died with himhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/mourners-bid-farewell-to-boris-nemtsov-but-fear-their-hopes-have-died-with-him
<p>Thousands queue to pay respects to Putin opponent on icy Moscow day, but many voice fears about what the future holds for Russia<br></p><p>As the hearse containing Boris Nemtsov’s coffin pulled away, mourners tossed flowers and chants rang out. “Russia will be free!” they cried. “Russia without Putin!” <br /></p><p>Despite the fighting talk, however, there was an overwhelming sense of gloom among those who came to say a final goodbye to Nemtsov on Tuesday. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/mourners-bid-farewell-to-boris-nemtsov-but-fear-their-hopes-have-died-with-him">Continue reading...</a>Boris NemtsovRussiaUkraineChechnyaVladimir PutinAlexei NavalnyWorld newsEuropeTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:09:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/mourners-bid-farewell-to-boris-nemtsov-but-fear-their-hopes-have-died-with-himShaun Walker in Moscow2015-03-03T20:09:31ZDavid Petraeus pleas guilt in deal over passing classified 'black books' to loverhttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/david-petraeus-pleads-guilty-classified-information-paula-broadwell
<p>General reaches agreement with Justice Department over charge that he gave sensitive information to Paula Broadwell while he was director of the CIA</p><p>General David Petraeus, the pre-eminent wartime military officer of his generation, will plead guilty in a deal reached with the Justice Department to one count of passing classified information to a lover while he was director of the CIA.</p><p>The Justice Department announced the plea deal in a statement on Tuesday. The deal calls for two years’ probation and a $40,000 fine, with no prison time.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/david-petraeus-pleads-guilty-classified-information-paula-broadwell">Continue reading...</a>David PetraeusUS militaryObama administrationUS newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:00:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/david-petraeus-pleads-guilty-classified-information-paula-broadwellTom McCarthy in New York2015-03-03T17:00:45ZMarketing is dead, says Saatchi & Saatchi boss – long live lovemarkshttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/03/advertising-is-dead-says-saatchi-saatchi-boss-long-live-lovemarks
<p>Agency kingpin Kevin Roberts says future is all about creating a movement of people behind your brand – or ‘lovemarks’, as he calls them</p><p>Marketing is dead. Strategy is dead. Management is dead.</p><p>So says Kevin Roberts, the man who ran the UK’s most famous advertising firm Saatchi &amp; Saatchi for 17 years, until his recent move upstairs to become executive chairman.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/03/advertising-is-dead-says-saatchi-saatchi-boss-long-live-lovemarks">Continue reading...</a>Saatchi & SaatchiAdvertisingBusinessTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:00:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/03/advertising-is-dead-says-saatchi-saatchi-boss-long-live-lovemarksSimon Goodley2015-03-03T17:00:41ZBarclays in Luxembourg: £593m profits, £4m tax, report revealshttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/barclays-luxembourg-profits-tax-report
<p>Bank’s country-by-country breakdown for last year also shows it paid £208m corporation tax in UK where it reported £3.4bn profits</p><p>Barclays generated &pound;593m of profits last year in Luxembourg – where much of its tax planning services were based – but employed just 30 people and paid &pound;4m in tax.</p><p>The figures were revealed in the bank’s <a href="http://www.barclays.com/content/dam/barclayspublic/docs/Citizenship/Reports-Publications/2014_country_snapshot.pdf">country-by-country breakdown</a> which shows where it employs staff, generates profits and pays tax. The breakdown also showed the bank paid &pound;208m in corporation tax in the UK, where it reported &pound;3.4bn of its &pound;5.5bn total profits – although &pound;3.2bn of that was generated overseas.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/barclays-luxembourg-profits-tax-report">Continue reading...</a>BarclaysBankingLuxembourgEuropeWorld newsUK newsTax and spendingTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:04:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/barclays-luxembourg-profits-tax-reportJill Treanor2015-03-03T18:04:37ZFocus on green tech to tackle climate change, says UK's climate adviserhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/green-tech-key-to-tackling-climate-change-says-uks-climate-adviser
<p>Sir David King says green technology deserves as much attention as being given to details of negotiations for Paris </p><p>Green technology should be as much a focus of tackling climate change as the United Nations negotiations leading up to a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/global-climate-talks">crunch conference in Paris</a> this December, the UK’s top foreign office adviser on climate said on Tuesday.</p><p>Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to the UK government and now the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/david-king">special representative for climate change</a>, said: “Technology is moving ahead very rapidly. I think we need to focus not only on the details of the negotiations, but also on what the technological revolution is going to bring to us.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/green-tech-key-to-tackling-climate-change-says-uks-climate-adviser">Continue reading...</a>Renewable energyGlobal climate talksEnvironmentEuropeUK newsGreen economyCOP 21: UN climate change conference | ParisTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:42:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/green-tech-key-to-tackling-climate-change-says-uks-climate-adviserFiona Harvey2015-03-03T16:42:10ZUN drugs body warns US states and Uruguay over cannabis legalisationhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/un-drugs-body-warns-us-states-and-uruguay-over-cannabis-legalisation
<p>International Narcotics Control Board report says US and Uruguay are breaking drug treaties and warns of huge rise in abuse of ADHD treatment Ritalin</p><p>The United Nations has renewed its warnings to Uruguay and the US states of Colorado and Washington that their cannabis legalisation policies fail to comply with international drug treaties.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/events/2015/incb_2015.html">annual report</a> from the <a href="https://www.incb.org/">UN’s International Narcotics Control Board</a>, which is responsible for policing the drug treaties, said it would send a high-level mission to Uruguay, which became the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/11/uruguay-cannabis-marijuana-production-sale-law">first country to legalise the production, distribution, sale and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/un-drugs-body-warns-us-states-and-uruguay-over-cannabis-legalisation">Continue reading...</a>DrugsDrugs policyUruguayWashington DCWashington stateColoradoAmericasAttention deficit hyperactivity disorderSocietyHealthUnited NationsUS domestic policyUS politicsLawCannabisOregonAlaskaTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:08:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/un-drugs-body-warns-us-states-and-uruguay-over-cannabis-legalisationAlan Travis home affairs editor2015-03-03T16:08:05ZDrugs Live: Cannabis on Trial - live bloghttp://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/live/2015/mar/03/drugs-live-cannabis-on-trial-live-blog-as-it-happens
<p>Join us for live action, discussion and debate during Channel 4’s TV experiment into the effects of cannabis, including hashish and skunk injested in a controlled environment <br></p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2015/mar/01/drugs-live-why-wanted-to-get-stoned-live-tv-channel-four">Drugs Live: why I wanted to get stoned on TV</a></p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2015/feb/23/jon-snows-on-skunk-the-cannabis-trial-channel-4">‘Jon Snow’s negative experience on skunk is very understandable’</a></p><p><br><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2015/mar/01/drugs-live-why-wanted-to-get-stoned-live-tv-channel-four"><br></a></p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:37:02.565Z">10.37pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Cannabis’ effects on memory loss are going to be discussed after the break. Claire Mokrysz is a PhD student at UCL who works with Professor Val Curran on the subject. Here’s what she had to say:</p><p>My work at University College London focuses on the impact of adolescent cannabis use on cognition and the brain. Some research suggests that using cannabis from a young age can be particularly damaging to brain development, and can impact on your cognition and performance at school. However the evidence is often inconsistent and it’s hard to know whether these links are causal, or whether they merely reflect pre-existing differences between cannabis users and non-users. One such potential confound is that teenagers who use a lot of cannabis are often also heavy alcohol drinkers and cigarette smokers.</p><p>In light of this, a study published last month in the scientific journal Neurobiology of Disease looked at the structure of subcortical regions in the brains of adolescent and adult cannabis-users, and compared these to non-users. The adolescent users had all been daily users for at least 3 months- so these really were persistent regular users. Importantly, unlike previous studies that have found cannabis-related differences in brain structure, the researchers matched their groups for alcohol use. Results showed no evidence of structural differences between the brains of cannabis users and non-users, not even for the adolescent cannabis users. For me these results demonstrate that we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about the effects of teenage cannabis use. But potentially of more importance, the results also highlight how alcohol- a much more socially acceptable drug- may in fact be linked to the previously reported structural brain differences.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:35:10.027Z">10.35pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Val Curran is describing the results of this - skunk and hash both increased the desire to listen to music (compared to placebo I assume). But I’d like some error bars please! The sample size is quite small so hard to tell how much of a difference there was.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:33:25.325Z">10.33pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>And we’re back to the science, WITH a music task. Participants were asked to rate their desire to listen to music (and what music), then played music while in the MRI scanner. Someone is waggling their feet – I hope that was during a break in scanning or there’ll be some nasty artefacts from that movement!</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:31:50.853Z">10.31pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>There’s now a video of musicians talking about using cannabis to help the artistic muse. Artists are saying that the cannabis can help them get the ‘looseness’ that helps them work, or to emotionally connect to the music. This isn’t scientific in the least, but it’s a really interesting juxtaposition to the study. Members of the audience discussing that certain genres wouldn’t exist without cannabis. Were Black Sabbath always high?</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:28:53.846Z">10.28pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Jon Snow is now interviewing Professor David Nutt about his views on cannabis harms. Nutt devised his harm index in a famous Lancet paper, which rated cannabis as about 1/3 as harmful as alcohol. This paper splits harm in to ‘to self’ and ‘to others’. Snow asks Nutt whether splitting cannabis in to ‘skunk’ and ‘hash’ would alter this, and Nutt says he thinks so.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:25:08.489Z">10.25pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>And we’re back after the first break. Dr Christian is talking to Dr Adam Winstock, an addiction scientist interested in the effects of cannabis on the brain. But they’re surrounded by cannabis plants. They’re discussing the thorny skunk-versus-cannabis issue. A neat video is being shown now on the effects of THC. It’s also claiming that CBD can protect you from some of the more unpleasant effects of THC, though the evidence for this is weaker at the moment, as research is relatively new in this field.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:21:14.677Z">10.21pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Earlier, I asked some of the researchers involved in the programme what they hoped the show would achieve. Here’s what Matt Wall, neuroscientist and self-confessed ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/m_wall">fMRI-nerd</a>’ said:</p><p>For me, what I hope the show will achieve is to get across some of the genuinely exciting results we’ve found about the effects of different type of cannabis on the brain. The data I’ve been working on is resting-state fMRI scans, and we’ve found some interesting results not just on how cannabis affects brain networks, but on how the effects differ between the two types we’ve tested: ‘skunk’ (high THC, low CBD) and ‘hash’ (roughly equal THC and CBD). These effects may be important clues to why high-THC strains might be more associated with negative effects like dependence or psychotic-like symptoms.</p><p>However, some of the results we’ve found are quite complex and subtle, so I’m expecting that perhaps we might not get across all of them. I’d be happy if we could explain what brain resting-state networks are, and mention that some of them may be differently affected by the two types of cannabis. I think this is an important aim; the general public seems to have some awareness of functional brain imaging now, but resting-state fMRI is still pretty much unknown, and a huge area of research. </p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:19:32.878Z">10.19pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Here’s a report on the history of cannabis. Lovely animations of “skunk number one” and “Skunk-man Sam”. The development of hydroponics as a technique to grow cannabis in colder climates meant cannabis didn’t need to be smuggled in to the country any more. The video estimates the UK cannabis ‘industry’ to be worth &pound;6 billion!</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:16:32.760Z">10.16pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>It’s quite distracting trying to listen to Professor Curran discussing the increase in cannabis problems (including addiction) while Chris van Tulleken is still breathing in to that bag next to her. He says he’s taking the drug in a very different way to how most people take it. He’s been sent off to do a battery of psychological tests.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:15:01.652Z">10.15pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Now the discussion turns to legalisation. Although there are a number of high profile supporters of legalisation in the UK, this is very different to in USA. Cannabis users are being interviewed. Some are advocating ‘stoned sex’, or the joy of tangerines and ginger beer. Unsurprisingly, the comments are predominantly positive.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:12:18.557Z">10.12pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Ah. Dr Christian has used the HASHtag joke. But now we’re getting on to the ‘drugs’ element of Drugs Live. Dr Chris van Tulleken is breathing in (possibly) cannabis from a bag. Professor Val Curran is describing the size of the dose, not the ‘bottle of vodka’ equivalent it’s been suggested in comments on the video of Jon Snow. Dr van Tulleken is a medical doctor, and used to being on TV, so was chosen for ethical reasons: taking drugs on live television is likely to be pretty stressful.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:08:03.539Z">10.08pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p><a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/drugs-live/articles/all/background-to-the-cannabis-trials">Here’s</a> the background to the trial. It’s double-blind, meaning that neither the participant nor the researcher knew which condition was being presented. While 20 people isn’t a huge study, it’s not uncommon for studies involving brain scanning to be on relatively small numbers given the expense of using the equipment.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T22:05:30.858Z">10.05pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>And we’re off. Jon Snow is introducing the show, discussing the juxtaposition between calls for legalisation and worries about the health damages of cannabis. Also, the study will be the first to give participants two different potencies of cannabis and compare their effects. The study will be interspersed with stories from users, and discussions with experts in the audience. Including Richard Branson, it seems!</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T21:59:50.944Z">9.59pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Here’s a sneaky peek of the Drugs Live rehearsals finishing, tweeted by the UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit. I think that’s a smaller brain than the one used in the Ecstasy programme.</p><p>Final rehearsals before they go live... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/drugslive?src=hash">#drugslive</a> <a href="http://t.co/fEpY03YIsg">pic.twitter.com/fEpY03YIsg</a></p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T21:44:44.082Z">9.44pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Cannabis researcher Amir Englund has written a more in-depth explainer about the cannabis plant itself.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/mar/03/cannabis-whats-in-a-name-skunk-hash">Cannabis: what's in a name?</a> </p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T21:38:28.319Z">9.38pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>First things first, some terminology. The show’s presenter Dr Christian Jessen has already tweeted that the terms ‘skunk’ and ‘hash’ will be being used as short-hand for the relative levels of different compounds present in cannabis.</p><p>1) For purposes of brevity we will b using 2 terms tonight: hash (variable THC levels + CBD) and skunk (higher THC, minimal CBD) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/drugslive?src=hash">#drugslive</a></p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2015-03-03T21:30:16.814Z">9.30pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Welcome to the Guardian live blog accompanying Channel 4’s Drugs Live: Cannabis on Trial.</p><p>In 2012 the Guardian covered <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/sep/27/drugs-live-the-ecstasy-trial-channel-4-review">Drugs Live: The Ecstasy Trial – the highs and lows</a>, but now the experiment turns to the most widely used illegal recreational drug: cannabis. It’s perfect timing for a show on cannabis; while recent UK evidence points to a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/feb/16/does-smoking-skunk-cause-psychosis-but-milder-cannabis-doesnt">link between potent strains of cannabis and psychosis</a>, across the pond various states in USA are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/05/oregon-legalises-marijuana-recreational">legalising recreational use</a> of it.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/live/2015/mar/03/drugs-live-cannabis-on-trial-live-blog-as-it-happens">Continue reading...</a>DrugsDrugsCannabisBiologyHuman biologyTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:37:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/live/2015/mar/03/drugs-live-cannabis-on-trial-live-blog-as-it-happensSuzi Gage2015-03-03T22:37:02ZWeasel-riding-woodpecker picture prompts weighty Twitter debatehttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/weasel-and-woodpecker-combo-soar-to-top-of-online-charts
<p>#WeaselPecker trends on Twitter as Photoshop fans have fun with apparently genuine image of weasel flying on bird’s back through London park</p><p>It’s that age-old story: weasel meets bird, weasel falls in love with bird, weasel won’t let bird go – even when it flies off.</p><p>This extraordinary picture taken by amateur wildlife photographer Martin Le-May has caused some chin-scratching among ornithologists everywhere. Is it possible for a woodpecker to carry a weasel on its back?<br /></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/photography-blog/2015/mar/03/weasel-riding-a-woodpecker-the-five-best-weaselpecker-memes">Weasel riding a woodpecker: the five best #weaselpecker memes</a> </p><p>We are loving the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeaselPecker?src=hash">#WeaselPecker</a> John Terry meme! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TerryPecker?src=hash">#TerryPecker</a> <a href="http://t.co/Pq7wZuIqrX">pic.twitter.com/Pq7wZuIqrX</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/weasel-and-woodpecker-combo-soar-to-top-of-online-charts">Continue reading...</a>WildlifeEnvironmentBirdsTwitterTechnologySocial mediaMediaAnimalsUK newsPhotographyArt and designTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:59:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/weasel-and-woodpecker-combo-soar-to-top-of-online-chartsMark Smith and agencies2015-03-03T18:59:41Z‘What crime have I committed to be held like this?’: inside Yarl's Woodhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/inside-yarls-wood-detention-centre-asylum-seekers-abuse-suicide
<p>Migrants and asylum seekers can be locked up at the high-security detention centre indefinitely. Reports of abuse, self-harm and suicide are rife. Now MPs are calling for an end to the ‘expensive, ineffective and unjust’ system. In a rare report, inmates describe their misery</p><p>From the front, Yarl’s Wood looks like an uninspiring airport hotel, cream-fronted, with red welcome signs painted on the glass entrance doors in Tamil and Bengali. It is only if you walk around the back, through the car park, and peer behind the entrance hall that a vista of prison-like buildings becomes visible, wrapped in layers of tall metal fencing and razor wire.</p><p>Visitors must give up their telephones and bags before being fingerprinted, patted down, scanned and ushered into a large, airless visitors’ room. Prominently displayed on a noticeboard are a few thank-you letters from former detainees, detailing their gratitude to Yarl’s Wood employees.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/mps-call-end-indefinite-detention-migrants">MPs call for end to indefinite detention of migrants</a> </p><p>People are under a lot of stress … Most of the women are not coping</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/locking-up-asylum-seekers-channel-4-yarls-wood-immigration-centre">Locking up immigrants diminishes us all | Diane Taylor</a> </p><p>You are watched by the men – there is no dignity, they burst in on you. You wake up and a man is standing over you</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/migrant-detention-souleymanyes-story">Migrant detention: Souleymanye's story</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/inside-yarls-wood-detention-centre-asylum-seekers-abuse-suicide">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumUK newsWomenLife and styleTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:28:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/inside-yarls-wood-detention-centre-asylum-seekers-abuse-suicideAmelia Gentleman2015-03-03T18:28:01ZLeonard Nimoy’s photographs of fat, naked women changed my lifehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/leonard-nimoy-full-body-project
<p>The late actor’s Full Body Project was bold and radical. It was the first time I’d seen women like me presented as objects of beauty instead of punchlines</p><p>I didn’t realise it until after he died – for whatever reason, I’d just never done the mental arithmetic – but Leonard Nimoy is responsible for the single most transformative moment of my life. In a very tangible way, Leonard Nimoy saved me.</p><p>Of course, I have all the standard emotional attachments to the man as an actor and cultural icon: I grew up on Star Trek reruns and the ensuing films (when you’re done here, please sign my Change.org petition to get my fiance to wear <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Trek-Voyage-Spock-Costume/dp/B00P7HW9NC">Spock’s Voyage Home wizard bathrobe</a> at our wedding); I used to watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGF5ROpjRAU">The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins</a> about 7,000 times every weekend, before I had to quit smoking pot because I convinced myself that I could “walk backwards through time”; and, in all seriousness, as a human being who believes in things – in love and humanity and the thrill of consciousness – it’s impossible not to be awestruck at the existence of such a principled, kind, talented, ravenously curious polymath.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/mar/03/the-full-body-project-by-leonard-nimoy-in-pictures">The Full Body Project by Leonard Nimoy – in pictures</a> </p><p>I asked them to be proud, which was a condition they took to easily, quite naturally. Having completed the compositions that were initially planned, I then asked them to play some music that they had brought with them, and they quickly responded to the rhythms, dancing in a free-form circular movement in the space ... In these pictures, these women are proudly wearing their own skin. They respect themselves and I hope that my images convey that to others<br /></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/zachary-quinto-leonard-nimoy-was-like-a-father-to-me">Zachary Quinto: Leonard Nimoy was like a father to me</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/leonard-nimoy-full-body-project">Continue reading...</a>Body imageArt and designPhotographyLeonard NimoyCultureSocietyHealth & wellbeingHealthLife and styleTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:14:25 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/leonard-nimoy-full-body-projectLindy West2015-03-03T17:14:25ZThe blockbuster's in decline – here's how to save ithttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/marvel-us-box-office-decline-blockbusters
<p>More than 25 superhero movies in the next four years could spell troubled times for the US box office. How can the studios avoid fatiguing film-goers?</p><p>With every new Marvel announcement (the latest of which is due on 5 March), a combination of excitement and resignation hits. While the Disney-owned studio has a habit of producing superhero films that fly a little higher than the rest, there are only so many costumed crimefighters we can bear to see on the big screen.</p><p>Do we really need 11 Marvel films in the next four years, which, added to the other superhero offerings on the horizon, makes more than 25 in total? </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/feb/27/birdman-wrong-about-movie-superheroes">Birdman got it wrong: serious actors love playing superheroes</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/19/the-hunger-games-mockingjays-bombed-out-dystopia-is-all-too-familiar-it-could-be-syria-gaza-or-iraq">The Hunger Games: Mockingjay's bombed-out dystopia is all too familiar | Suzanne Moore</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/06/week-in-geek-2015-most-exciting-sci-fi-fantasy-films-jurassic-world-star-wars">Our pick of 2015's most exciting sci-fi and fantasy films</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2015/feb/10/can-marvel-save-spider-man-from-web-of-sequels-captain-america-3">Can Marvel save Spider-Man from his tangled web of sequels?</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/marvel-us-box-office-decline-blockbusters">Continue reading...</a>FilmAction and adventureGuardians of the GalaxyAvengers: Age of UltronFilm industryCultureChris PrattThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1The Hunger GamesJennifer LawrenceSpider-ManThe Amazing Spider-Man 2MarvelStar Wars: The Force AwakensTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:00:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/marvel-us-box-office-decline-blockbustersBenjamin Lee2015-03-03T16:00:42ZFrom bling to geek chic: can Italian fashion move beyond ‘molto sexy’?http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/03/can-italian-fashion-move-beyond-molto-sexy-milan-fashion-week
Gucci showed clothes for Wes Anderson bookworms rather than sunbathers. Versace got digital with hashtags. Milan – fashion’s most classic capital – is out to reinvent itself<p>As is often the case, it was the enduringly fabulous Donatella Versace who gave Milan fashion week one of its most memorable moments. Her hair poker straight and preternaturally shiny, her tiny body clad in a flared trouser suit, the designer was flanked by two glamazons in glittering mini dresses as she explained her latest collection. “We’re closing the door on the archive for new interpretations of what Versace is,” she said. “Times have changed. Psychologically and practically, the basis of a fashion language is different. It’s about finding a new language, particularly online.” That new vocabulary was written all over the models’ gowns, the dazzling embellishments hashtags, @-symbols and a new logo called “#GREEK”, or, as Versace explained it,&nbsp;“the emoji of the future”.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/feb/27/versace-joins-digital-age-embracing-icons-of-social-media">Versace joins digital age, embracing icons of social media</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/01/dolce-gabbana-celebrates-motherhood-at-milan-fashion-week">Dolce &amp; Gabbana celebrates motherhood at Milan fashion week</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/03/can-italian-fashion-move-beyond-molto-sexy-milan-fashion-week">Continue reading...</a>Milan fashion week autumn/winter 2015FashionLife and styleVersaceMoschinoDolce & GabbanaGucciPradaTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:58:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/03/can-italian-fashion-move-beyond-molto-sexy-milan-fashion-weekHannah Marriott2015-03-03T18:58:00ZParis court fines UK journalist for flying drones over cityhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/paris-court-fines-uk-journalist-for-flying-drones-over-city
<p>Al-Jazeera said the British reporter Tristan Redman, who pleaded guilty, was compiling a piece for them at the time</p><p> A French court has fined a British journalist €1,000 (&pound;728) for flying a drone over central Paris, and confiscated the machine.</p><p>Tristan Redman, 34, from the Qatar-based network al-Jazeera, was arrested last month in the Bois de Boulogne park, on the western edge of the French capital, along with two other journalists.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/paris-court-fines-uk-journalist-for-flying-drones-over-city">Continue reading...</a>ParisDrones (non-military)Al-JazeeraThe news on TVTV newsFranceEuropeMediaWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:14:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/paris-court-fines-uk-journalist-for-flying-drones-over-cityAgence France-Presse in Paris2015-03-03T18:14:18ZRussell Tovey: he may be proud but is the ‘worst gay ever’ actually sorry?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/mar/03/russell-tovey-proud-worst-gay-ever-apology-effeminate-actor
<p>The actor is having to backtrack after comments about effeminate men, but something about his Twitter apology fails to fully convince</p><p><strong>Name: </strong>Russell Tovey.</p><p><strong>Age:</strong> 33.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/01/russell-tovey-looking-banished-interview">Russell Tovey: ‘I was a scared, skinny little rat. Then I hit the gym…’</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/mar/03/russell-tovey-proud-worst-gay-ever-apology-effeminate-actor">Continue reading...</a>Russell ToveyThe ObserverNewspapers & magazinesTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:02:25 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/mar/03/russell-tovey-proud-worst-gay-ever-apology-effeminate-actorGuardian Staff2015-03-03T16:02:25ZThe shadow of Lewinsky: why Clinton deserves more respecthttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/mar/03/bill-clinton-portrait-monica-lewinsky-deserves-more-respect
<p>Painter Nelson Shanks’s recent revelation that he showed the shadow of Monica Lewinsky’s stained dress in his official portrait of Bill Clinton has garnered him kudos. But is he really such a hero?</p><p>I wonder what would happen if an artist revealed that in an official portrait of George W Bush, he painted a <a href="http://img.rt.com/files/news/1e/67/b0/00/iraq-30.si.jpg">dark shadow representing the Iraq war</a>.</p><p>Actually I know what would happen. Fox News would lead a conservative uproar that condemned this insidious piece of unpatriotic propaganda. I can hear them now.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/02/bill-clinton-portrait-artist-monica-lewinsky-scandal">Bill Clinton portrait artist hints at Monica Lewinsky scandal</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/mar/03/bill-clinton-portrait-monica-lewinsky-deserves-more-respect">Continue reading...</a>Art and designCultureBill ClintonUS politicsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:11:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/mar/03/bill-clinton-portrait-monica-lewinsky-deserves-more-respectJonathan Jones2015-03-03T13:11:23ZMatt Lucas’s Pompidou: why are we so snobbish about silent comedy?http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/03/matt-lucas-pompidou-why-snobbish-about-silent-comedy
<p>The BBC’s new sitcom, like Mr Bean before it, has been called cynical and childish – but family entertainment shouldn’t be dismissed as unsophisticated</p><p>Ouch. There’ve been some stinking reviews for Matt Lucas’s new <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0552zxj">silent sitcom Pompidou</a>. A failed experiment, says Chortle. “Few laughs,” says the Arts Desk. “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11440831/Pompidou-episode-1-review-painful.html">Painful</a>,” says the Telegraph – which only a few days previously had assured us that, “with its roots in [the UK’s venerable silent comedy] tradition, Pompidou has the surest of starts”.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/aug/15/are-you-a-comedy-snob-edinburgh-festival">Are you a comedy snob?</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/nov/19/comedy-critics-not-snobs-standup-lee-mack-stewart-lee">Critics aren’t comedy snobs – I like Lee Mack as much as Stewart Lee</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/03/matt-lucas-pompidou-why-snobbish-about-silent-comedy">Continue reading...</a>ComedyComedyChildren's TVChildren's theatreComedyTelevisionCultureStageSilent filmTelevision & radioTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:09:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/03/matt-lucas-pompidou-why-snobbish-about-silent-comedyBrian Logan2015-03-03T13:09:26ZCannabis: what's in a name?http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/mar/03/cannabis-whats-in-a-name-skunk-hash
<p>Recent studies have used “hash” and “skunk” to describe varying strengths of cannabis. Amir Englund explains the complexities of cannabis strain variation</p><p>Cannabis tends to be subdivided into 3 different species: Sativa, Indica and Ruderalis. However, these are merely terms used to describe the typology of the plant (it’s “looks” – shape, height, bushiness, and the like) rather than a specific distribution of its cannabinoids. When looking at the genome of the plant it becomes apparent that they all fit under the same species Cannabis sativa L, which is also evident as the different types can “mate” with each other (crossbreeding). </p><p>Users often make the claim that “sativas” produce a more “head-high” while “indicas” a more “body-high”, and that this could potentially be because of differences in THC content and CBD/THC ratio. However, there is no evidence to support the notion that CBD/THC ratios differ among the different types. Furthermore, nowadays there has been extensive crossbreeding which would make a further distinction between the types less meaningful.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/mar/03/cannabis-whats-in-a-name-skunk-hash">Continue reading...</a>ScienceCannabisDrugsBiologyDrugsTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:43:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/mar/03/cannabis-whats-in-a-name-skunk-hashAmir Englund2015-03-03T21:43:39ZOat cuisine: UK's first pop-up porridge cafe opens for businesshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/oat-cuisine-uks-first-pop-up-porridge-cafe-opens-for-business
<p>Venture serving only porridge-based dishes follows trend for ‘brinner’ – using foods associated with breakfast and ‘reinventing’ them for dinner</p><p>For lunch, Ellie Bamber had treated herself to an arborio rice porridge of slow-cooked beef ragu, feta and basil, which she followed with buckwheat porridge topped with passion fruit, coconut and agave nectar. Dessert, she concluded, wasn’t quite as good as the main, “but only because the beef was fantastic”. How was it otherwise? “Filling.”</p><p>Most people wouldn’t generally tend to have a two-course porridge meal, all the same? “Oh, I probably would,” said Bamber, a student who had skipped her daily morning porridge to save some room for lunch. “I just love oats.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/oat-cuisine-uks-first-pop-up-porridge-cafe-opens-for-business">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkLondonUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/oat-cuisine-uks-first-pop-up-porridge-cafe-opens-for-businessEsther Addley2015-03-03T07:00:10ZHow well do you know these 80s remakes? – quizhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/quiz/2015/mar/03/film-quiz-80s-remakes
With <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/02/robert-townsend-re-counting-brewsters-millions-1201383077/">Brewster's Millions now joining the seemingly endless list of 80s films heading for a remake</a>, here's your chance to put your childhood-pillaging anger aside for a few minutes and show how much you know about other 'reimaginings' from the era <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/quiz/2015/mar/03/film-quiz-80s-remakes">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:24:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/quiz/2015/mar/03/film-quiz-80s-remakesBenjamin Lee2015-03-03T09:24:59ZI'm with Simon Cowell, let's bring professional wrestling back to British TVhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/03/simon-cowell-professional-wrestling-back-british-tv
<p>I agree, the return of tummy-bumping to our screens could be a glororious thing. But there are a few rules. …</p><p>This weekend, Simon Cowell revealed that he’d like nothing more than to bring wrestling back to British television. You can’t blame him: professional wrestling was once a huge part of British culture, and the fact that it has fallen by the wayside is a cause for despair.</p><p>For some people, Britishness is a gentle stroll through a springtime meadow. For others it’s the endless nocturnal swirl of city life. Not for me, though. For me – and, we can assume, for Simon Cowell – to be British is to spend your Saturday afternoons sitting on a tatty sofa in a house that smells of chip fat, watching two fat blokes repeatedly bump tummies in their pants for money.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/03/simon-cowell-professional-wrestling-back-british-tv">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionCultureTelevision & radioEntertainmentWrestlingSportSimon CowellMediaTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:54:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/03/simon-cowell-professional-wrestling-back-british-tvStuart Heritage2015-03-03T12:54:58ZPretty in pink: what spring looks like in infrared – in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/mar/03/pretty-in-pink-what-spring-looks-like-in-infrared-in-pictures
<p>Deep magentas, dazzling fuschias and candyfloss blooms: here’s the hot flush of spring, enhanced by infrared photography</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/mar/03/pretty-in-pink-what-spring-looks-like-in-infrared-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>PhotographyArt and designCultureEnvironmentPlantsTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/mar/03/pretty-in-pink-what-spring-looks-like-in-infrared-in-picturesLisa Croasdale2015-03-03T07:00:09ZSamsung Galaxy S6 sacrificed what it does best in its war with Applehttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/galaxy-s6-samsung-sacrificed-what-does-best-war-apple
<p>Pursuit of premium design and slender profile have come at the cost of losing what made the company’s smartphones interesting and different <br></p><p>The announcement of Samsung’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/01/samsung-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge-smartphones-handsets">new flagship Galaxy S6 smartphones</a> has caused quite a stir, with a new design, interesting features, and a stripped back approach – but the company has lost what made its phones different in its war with Apple.<br /></p><p>Samsung has been the dominant player in the smartphone market since it took the top spot in global smartphone shipments from Apple in 2011. The phone to help it do that was the Galaxy S2, Samsung’s first hit, which succeeded because it was both different and capable.</p><p>Samsung’s use of metal and glass addresses shortcomings of last year's all-plastic Galaxy S5 – good move. <a href="http://t.co/PjKPHayM0k">pic.twitter.com/PjKPHayM0k</a></p><p>No removable battery, no external sd slot no thank you.</p><p>Without the ability to change the battery, the Galaxy loses the main point of having it. As to the astonished people who can't conceive of someone carrying a spare battery that always respond to this, just accept that some people have a bit of foresight.</p><p>Samsung seem to have been influenced by the reviewers who keep harping on about its phones being made of plastic, so they've gone down the &quot;style over substance&quot; route and put the phone in a shiny package while at the same time introducing two major downgrades (replaceable battery and Micro SD slot).</p><p>As someone who uses a phone because of its functionality, rather than as a fashion accessory or status symbol, this is a disappointment. I think I'll stick with my S4, which still works perfectly and hasn't been &quot;dumbed down&quot; like this new one.</p><p>Ha! Just as I was considering switching from an iphone to a Samsung because of the SD card memory capability. Maybe I'll end up with a HTC or LG after all...</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/galaxy-s6-samsung-sacrificed-what-does-best-war-apple">Continue reading...</a>SamsungAndroidGoogleSoftwareSmartphonesGadgetsTechnologyMobile phonesTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:19:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/galaxy-s6-samsung-sacrificed-what-does-best-war-appleSamuel Gibbs2015-03-03T09:19:39ZThe Edward Snowden story - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/membership/2015/mar/02/the-edward-snowden-story-watch-live
<p>The Edward Snowden story led to the Guardian receiving the Pulitzer prize for public service. Watch Alan Rusbridger, Ewen MacAskill,<strong> </strong>Janine Gibson and Stuart Millar talk about how the story made the headlines</p><p>In <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/nsa-secret-surveillance-lawmakers-live">June 2013</a>, Edward Snowden identified himself as the whistleblower who provided the Guardian with top-secret NSA documents leading to revelations about US surveillance on phone and internet communications. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/membership/2015/feb/18/jonathan-freedland-if-you-believe-in-what-the-guardian-is-doing-come-and-join-us">Jonathan Freedland: 'If you believe in what the Guardian is doing, come and join us'</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/membership/2015/mar/02/the-edward-snowden-story-watch-live">Continue reading...</a>MembershipEdward SnowdenCitizenfourThe NSA filesThe GuardianNational newspapersNewspapersNewspapers & magazinesMon, 02 Mar 2015 16:09:52 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/membership/2015/mar/02/the-edward-snowden-story-watch-liveJoanna Witt2015-03-02T16:09:52ZA-Z of the general election 2015http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/01/a-z-general-election-2015-uk-politics
The general election campaign starts officially on 30 March, but the early skirmishes have already begun. Here, from the pink bus to new media and gaffes to opinion polls, is your indispensable guide to the words, thoughts and, not least, promises that will shape the political conversation over the next two months<p> <strong> </strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/01/a-z-general-election-2015-uk-politics">Continue reading...</a>General election 2015PoliticsEconomic policyConservativesLabourLiberal DemocratsScottish National party (SNP)UK Independence party (Ukip)Green partyPlaid CymruDemocratic Unionist party (DUP)Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)Sinn FéinSDLPUK newsEd MilibandDavid CameronNick CleggEd BallsGeorge OsborneTheresa MayNigel FarageNicola SturgeonEconomicsBusinessSun, 01 Mar 2015 00:05:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/01/a-z-general-election-2015-uk-politicsHelen Lewis2015-03-01T00:05:03ZTim Sherwood enjoys first Aston Villa win with penalty against West Bromhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/aston-villa-west-brom-premier-league-match-report
<p>Tim Sherwood looked to the heavens, clenched his fists and started to dance around on the pitch. It was the last of three minutes of injury time and Christian Benteke, the coolest man in the stadium, had just nonchalantly rolled in what could prove to be the most important penalty kick of his career.</p><p>Having looked like they had allowed two points to slip through their fingers, Aston Villa secured their first league win in 14 attempts in dramatic fashion. Ahead through an early goal from the outstanding Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was unrecognisable from the player who has toiled for so much of this season, Villa looked like they would be left to rue their failure to turn their first-half superiority into more goals when Saido Berahino pilfered his 18th of the season midway through the second half to haul West Bromwich Albion level.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/aston-villa-west-brom-premier-league-match-report">Continue reading...</a>Premier LeagueAston VillaWest Bromwich AlbionFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:56:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/aston-villa-west-brom-premier-league-match-reportStuart James at Villa Park2015-03-03T21:56:20ZSadio Mané the main man as Southampton squeeze past Crystal Palacehttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/southampton-crystal-palace-premier-league-match-report
<p>This was just the tonic Southampton needed to halt a steady decline. With 10 minutes remaining their malaise of late looked set to continue but Sadio Man&eacute;’s determination and deft touch secured a first win at home since New Year’s Day for Ronald Koeman’s side whose top-four ambitions received a welcome boost.</p><p>Crystal Palace had won five successive away matches under Alan Pardew before this defeat and will count themselves unlucky to not have at least earned a point. Wilfried Zaha hit a post and Fraser Forster was twice called on during a second half that could have easily have swung their way, with unease beginning to creep in at St Mary’s as Southampton struggled to create any telling opportunities.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/southampton-crystal-palace-premier-league-match-report">Continue reading...</a>Premier LeagueSouthamptonCrystal PalaceFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:50:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/southampton-crystal-palace-premier-league-match-reportJames Riach at St Mary's2015-03-03T21:50:44ZManuel Pellegrini digs in his heels at Manchester Cityhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/manuel-pellegrini-manchester-city-leicester-premier-league
City manager needs to get back on track against Leicester on Wednesday after back-to-back defeats that threaten to sabotage the season<br><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/pep-guardiola-bayern-manchester-city" title="">• Pep Guardiola rules out joining Manchester City in summer</a><p>One of the strangest things perhaps, after all the expenditure and all the grand plans, is the amount of time – and the total number of days might surprise you – Manchester City have actually spent at the top of the Premier League since that afternoon in 2012 when Sergio Ag&uuml;ero pulled back his right boot, the clock ticked into the 94th minute and Martin Tyler’s commentary went up several octaves.</p><p>We are approaching the three-year mark and, in total, there have been only 22 days since when City have been looking down on everyone else. The longest run at the top? That was a mere week in November 2012 before everything unravelled for Roberto Mancini. Last season? Six different spells on the summit but never more than four days, even if 7 May to 11 May were the most important four days of the campaign.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/manuel-pellegrini-manchester-city-leicester-premier-league">Continue reading...</a>Manchester CityManuel PellegriniFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:51:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/manuel-pellegrini-manchester-city-leicester-premier-leagueDaniel Taylor2015-03-03T19:51:53ZCricket’s great data debate: art v sciencehttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/the-spin-cricket-data-analysis-art-science
In an age when all teams are using computer analysis, a tactic isn’t good or bad because it looks that way. It is simply good if it works and bad if it doesn’t<p>In July 2007, after a history reckoned to stretch back almost 4,000 years, the game of draughts was finally solved. After two decades of work, a team of computer scientists at the University of Alberta finished sifting through the 500 billion, billion possible positions on the board. Their computer programme, Chinook, was now unbeatable. So long as neither player made a mistake, every game it played was guaranteed to end in a stalemate. Later that same summer, Peter Moores was appointed as head coach of the England cricket team. Moores was one of the new breed of coaches. A numbers man, and disciple of Michael Lewis’s much abused book, Moneyball. He even gave a copy to his batting coach, Andy Flower. Moores was so keen on advanced computer analysis that he used it as the sole basis for some of his decisions – the decision to recall Ryan Sidebottom to the side, for instance.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/the-spin-cricket-data-analysis-art-science">Continue reading...</a>CricketSportEngland cricket teamCricket World Cup 2015Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:27:29 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/the-spin-cricket-data-analysis-art-scienceAndy Bull2015-03-03T15:27:29ZDave Mackay: all I wanted all my life was to play for Hearts. And Scotlandhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/mar/03/dave-mackay-hearts-scotland-tottenham-derby-ill-health-passed-on
The former Hearts, Tottenham and Derby player won the league with all three of his major clubs, as player or manager, and retained close links with their fans<p>The enduring image of Dave Mackay is one of the most instantly identifiable in football: the one with a firm grasp of Billy Bremner’s shirt and a threatening stare towards the Leeds United captain’s face during a match in 1966.</p><p>People routinely chuckle when seeing that photograph but Mackay was uncomfortable with the legacy. He felt it portrayed him in an unfair light; as a bullying aggressor rather than what he was, a hard but perfectly fair footballer. Albeit he would never say so himself, the Mackay memories should surround success rather than an isolated flashpoint.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/mar/03/dave-mackay-hearts-scotland-tottenham-derby-ill-health-passed-on">Continue reading...</a>FootballHeartsTottenham HotspurDerby CountySportTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:42:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/mar/03/dave-mackay-hearts-scotland-tottenham-derby-ill-health-passed-onEwan Murray2015-03-03T16:42:50ZDave Whelan resigns as Wigan chairman and names grandson as successorhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/dave-whelan-resigns-wigan-chairman
• Wigan chairman stands down shortly after serving ban for racist comments<br />• David Sharpe to replace Whelan, whose family retain stake in club<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/24/cardiff-board-boycott-wigan-dave-whelan-malky-mackay-vincent-tan" title="">• Cardiff board boycott Wigan trip in protest at Whelan and Mackay rows</a><p>The 23-year-old grandson of Dave Whelan is to replace him as the chairman of Wigan Athletic. Whelan resigned on Tuesday after 20 years at the helm, with David Sharpe set to take charge.</p><p>Whelan’s departure was announced in a <a href="http://www.wiganlatics.co.uk/news/article/dave-whelan-resignation-chairman-wigan-athletic-march-2015-2309389.aspx" title="">statement on the Championship club’s website</a> and came shortly after the 78-year-old had served a six-week ban from football for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/05/dave-whelan-wigan-chinese-chingalings" title="">racist comments made in an interview with the Guardian</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/dave-whelan-resigns-wigan-chairman">Continue reading...</a>Wigan AthleticDave WhelanChampionshipFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:25:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/dave-whelan-resigns-wigan-chairmanGuardian Sport2015-03-03T12:25:34ZBarcelona’s Gerard Piqué fined £7,600 for abusing police officershttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/gerard-pique-fined-police-officers-barcelona
• Fine relates to public order offence outside nightclub in October<br />• Piqué wrote apology letter which was read out in court<p>The Barcelona defender Gerard Piqu&eacute; was fined €10,500 (&pound;7,600) by a Spanish judge on Tuesday for abusing police after the car he was travelling in was given a parking ticket.</p><p>Piqu&eacute; wrote an apology to the court hearing in Barcelona for the public order offence that took place on 13 October last year.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/gerard-pique-fined-police-officers-barcelona">Continue reading...</a>BarcelonaFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:01:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/gerard-pique-fined-police-officers-barcelonaReuters2015-03-03T21:01:55ZKevin Pietersen debate is the last thing England need, says Stuart Broadhttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-stuart-broad-cricket-world-cup
• Broad says talk of return an unhelpful distraction during World Cup<br />• ‘The last thing this group needs is a KP media storm popping up again’<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-team-selection" title="">• Pietersen scorns team selection to put rapprochement on hold</a><p>Stuart Broad believes the reopening of the debate over Kevin Pietersen’s future is the last thing England need during a torturous World Cup campaign.</p><p>Colin Graves, the incoming chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, made Pietersen a live issue again on Sunday when he said <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/mar/02/colin-graves-ecb-woes-kevin-pietersen-england" title="">a return for the 34-year-old batsman was possible if he scored big runs in county cricket</a>, an unexpected development which came hours after <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/01/cricket-world-cup-england-sri-lanka-report" title="">England’s nine-wicket thrashing by Sri Lanka</a> in Wellington, the team’s third heavy defeat of a demoralising World Cup.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-stuart-broad-cricket-world-cup">Continue reading...</a>Stuart BroadKevin PietersenEngland cricket teamCricket World Cup 2015SportCricketTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-stuart-broad-cricket-world-cupChris Stocks in Adelaide2015-03-03T16:00:02ZDarren Stevens: my two years of hell in anti-corruption spotlighthttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/darren-stevens-anti-corruption-cricket-kent-bangladesh-dvd
• Kent all-rounder speaks for first time since clearing his name<br />• Stevens is featured on a DVD to warn county cricketers of corruption<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/26/kent-darren-stevens-cleared-bangladesh-corruption-involvement" title="">February 2014: Stevens cleared of involvement in Bangladesh corruption</a><p>The Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens has spoken for the first time about how his career was thrown into turmoil when he was charged with failing to report an approach from a would-be match-fixer.</p><p>In a video recorded for the <a href="http://www.thepca.co.uk/anti-corruption.html" title="">Professional Cricketers Association</a>, he describes going through “two years of hell” when accused of failing to contact the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit while playing for Dhaka Gladiators in the Bangladesh Premier League two years ago.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/darren-stevens-anti-corruption-cricket-kent-bangladesh-dvd">Continue reading...</a>KentCricketSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:35:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/darren-stevens-anti-corruption-cricket-kent-bangladesh-dvdAli Martin2015-03-03T12:35:34ZFootball quiz: which player's name is missing from the pop song lyrics?http://www.theguardian.com/football/quiz/2015/mar/03/football-quiz-name-players-song-lyrics
Name the footballers who pop up in these song lyrics <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/quiz/2015/mar/03/football-quiz-name-players-song-lyrics">Continue reading...</a>FootballMusicSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:43:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/quiz/2015/mar/03/football-quiz-name-players-song-lyricsGregg Bakowski and Stuart Goodwin2015-03-03T12:43:51ZFernando Alonso to miss start of F1 season on doctor’s ordershttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/fernando-alonso-miss-australian-grand-prix-mclaren
• McLaren driver suffered concussion during testing session in Barcelona<br />• His place at Australian Grand Prix to be taken by Kevin Magnussen<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/28/mclaren-off-pace-f1" title="">• McLaren admit they will be off the pace in Formula One until May</a><p>Fernando Alonso will miss the season-opening Formula One Grand Prix in Australia on advice from doctors.</p><p>The Spaniard <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/22/mclaren-fernando-alonso-crash-f1-testing-barcelona" title="">sustained concussion</a> following a heavy smash during the recent second pre-season test in Barcelona, resulting in him spending three days in hospital.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/fernando-alonso-miss-australian-grand-prix-mclaren">Continue reading...</a>Fernando AlonsoMcLarenFormula One 2015Formula OneMotor sportSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:38:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/fernando-alonso-miss-australian-grand-prix-mclarenPress Association2015-03-03T12:38:49ZJohn Terry will get Chelsea contract extension, José Mourinho confirmshttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/john-terry-chelsea-contract-extension-jose-mourinho
• Mourinho: I can guarantee Terry will be at Chelsea next season<br />• Chelsea captain’s current contract is due to expire this summer <br />• Manager wants to keep Petr Cech, and says he would cost clubs ‘huge money’<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/02/john-terry-chelsea-contract-future-stamford-bridge" title="">• Terry: I’m fighting for my first-team future at Chelsea</a><p>Jos&eacute; Mourinho has guaranteed John Terry will be a Chelsea player again next season but has admitted Petr Cech “is not a guy to be persuaded” and will make his own decision over whether to remain at Stamford Bridge beyond the summer.</p><p>Terry is expected to maintain his ever-present record for Chelsea in the Premier League this season by leading out the leaders at West Ham on Wednesday night having scored and claimed the man of the match award in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/01/chelsea-tottenham-capital-one-cup-final-match-report" title="">the Capital One Cup victory over Tottenham Hotspur</a>. The 34-year-old is out of contract on 1 July and – while he expects to be formally offered a new one-year deal – suggested in the wake of the win at Wembley that the fact <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/02/john-terry-chelsea-contract-future-stamford-bridge" title="">he is “fighting” for his future at the club</a> has coaxed the best out of him.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/john-terry-chelsea-contract-extension-jose-mourinho">Continue reading...</a>John TerryChelseaJosé MourinhoFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:22:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/john-terry-chelsea-contract-extension-jose-mourinhoDominic Fifield2015-03-03T13:22:45ZKevin Pietersen scorns England team selection to put rapprochement on holdhttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-team-selection
• England’s ‘best team isn’t playing’ says Kevin Pietersen in critical tweet<br />• Batsman also says English set-up too obsessed by statistics<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/02/colin-graves-kevin-pietersen-england-future" title="">• Graves to decide if grand plan has a place for Pietersen</a><p>Kevin Pietersen’s recent charm offensive appears to be on hold after he rubbished England’s World Cup team selection on Tuesday morning.</p><p>The exiled batsman suggested on Twitter that reasons behind their faltering World Cup campaign are that England are not picking their best team and they are too obsessed by statistics.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-team-selection">Continue reading...</a>Kevin PietersenEngland cricket teamCricket World Cup 2015CricketSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 08:41:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/kevin-pietersen-england-team-selectionPress Association2015-03-03T08:41:03ZAaron Ramsey back in Arsenal’s squad for QPR triphttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/aaron-ramsey-arsenal-qpr
• Arsenal midfielder set to return after third hamstring injury of season<br />• Francis Coquelin will play in protective mask if selected<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/02/arsenal-david-ospina-manchester-city" title="">• David Ospina optimistic of finishing above Manchester City</a><p>Aaron Ramsey will return to the Arsenal squad for Wednesday night’s Premier League match at Queens Park Rangers, while Francis Coquelin will have to wear a protective face mask if he features in the game following the broken nose he sustained against Everton.</p><p>Ramsey <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/11/aaron-ramsey-alexis-sanchez-injury-arsenal-monaco">suffered his third hamstring injury of the season</a> last month during the 2-1 victory over Leicester City and has not played since. The Welsh midfielder had suffered a similar problem against Galatasaray in December but Wenger does not believe he will suffer physiologically because of the recurring injury.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/aaron-ramsey-arsenal-qpr">Continue reading...</a>ArsenalQPRFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:49:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/aaron-ramsey-arsenal-qprJames Riach2015-03-03T11:49:51ZWhich club will finish third in the Premier League?http://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2015/mar/03/premier-league-manchester-united-arsenal-liverpool-spurs-southampton
<p>Best XIs from the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and Bundesliga, plus analysis of which English clubs will qualify for the Champions League</p><p>By <a href="https://twitter.com/martinlaurence7">Martin Laurence</a> for <a href="http://www.whoscored.com/">WhoScored?</a>, part of the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/series/guardian-sport-network">Guardian Sport Network</a></p><p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/01/jose-mourinho-chelsea-new-generation-tottenham-mauricio-pochettino">League Cup final stole the headlines</a> over the weekend but the battle for the Champions League places continued to intrigue in the latest round of Premier League fixtures. Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool were all victorious, with the latter putting a huge dent in Manchester City’s title defence with an impressive 2-1 win. It was a bad weekend for Southampton and Spurs, with the latter now without a win in five matches. Five clubs have a realistic chance of filling the Champions League qualification spots.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2015/mar/03/premier-league-manchester-united-arsenal-liverpool-spurs-southampton">Continue reading...</a>FootballPremier LeagueSportLa LigaEuropean club footballArsenalTottenham HotspurManchester UnitedSouthamptonLiverpoolLigue 1BundesligaSerie ATue, 03 Mar 2015 11:43:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2015/mar/03/premier-league-manchester-united-arsenal-liverpool-spurs-southamptonSport Network2015-03-03T11:43:53ZAdam Johnson released on bail after arrest over underage sex allegationhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/adam-johnson-released-on-bail
• Adam Johnson suspended by Sunderland pending outcome of investigation<br />• Midfielder questioned by police following allegations involving teenage girl<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/02/adam-johnson-arrested-sunderland" title="">• Johnson arrested on suspicion of sex with 15-year-old girl</a><p>The Sunderland midfielder Adam Johnson has been released on bail after he was arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16.</p><p>The England international was questioned by police on Monday following the allegation involving a girl who is believed to be 15 years old. He has been suspended by the club, pending the outcome of the police investigation. Durham constabulary said a 27-year-old man arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under 16 years had been released on bail “pending ongoing investigations”.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/adam-johnson-released-on-bail">Continue reading...</a>SunderlandFootballSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:02:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/adam-johnson-released-on-bailPress Association2015-03-03T09:02:39ZSarah Storey rules out repeat world hour record bid after VeloPark setbackhttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/sarah-storey-world-hour-record
• ‘It’s a once in a lifetime’ says Storey of arduous hour record attempt<br />• Sarah Storey turns focus to Para-cycling Track World Championships<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/28/sarah-storey-cycling-world-hour-record" title="">• Storey falls short in world hour record bid</a><p>Dame Sarah Storey has no intention of a repeat of the most painful hour of her life.</p><p>The 37-year-old 11-times Paralympic champion <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/28/sarah-storey-cycling-world-hour-record" title="">fell short in her attempt at the hour record</a> – riding the furthest distance in 60 minutes – at the Lee Valley VeloPark last Saturday.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/sarah-storey-world-hour-record">Continue reading...</a>Sarah StoreyCyclingDisability sportSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:28:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/sarah-storey-world-hour-recordPress Association2015-03-03T10:28:34ZSouth Africa hit 400 again to crush Ireland in Cricket World Cuphttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/south-africa-ireland-cricket-world-cup
• South Africa 411-4; Ireland 210 (South Africa win by 201 runs)<br />• Hashim Amla leads South Africa charge with 159 in Canberra<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2015/mar/03/ireland-v-south-africa-cricket-world-cup-2015-live" title="">• As it happened: Dan Lucas and Simon Burnton’s OBO report</a><p>Hashim Amla struck a career-best 159 as South Africa thrashed Ireland by 201 runs in their World Cup Pool B match in Canberra but the defeated captain, William Porterfield, insisted there was no panic.</p><p>South Africa amassed 411 for four from their 50 overs thanks to the free-flowing scoring of the opening batsman Amla and Faf du Plessis, who scored 109, with David Miller and Rilee Rossouw adding 110 quick runs at the end of the innings.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/south-africa-ireland-cricket-world-cup">Continue reading...</a>Cricket World Cup 2015South Africa cricket teamHashim AmlaIreland Cricket TeamCricketSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:17:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/03/south-africa-ireland-cricket-world-cupPress Association2015-03-03T11:17:39ZDave King claims victory in Rangers power struggle after directors quithttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/dave-king-rangers-directors-quit
• Former oldco director says he is on brink of taking control of Rangers<br />• Dave King still faces battle to force Mike Ashley allies to step down<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/02/rangers-chairman-david-somers-steps-down" title="">• David Somers steps down as chairman of Rangers</a><p>Dave King claims he is on the verge of taking control of Rangers after the club’s chief executive Derek Llambias admitted he had secured a “landslide victory”.</p><p>The former oldco director has already seen off the chairman David Somers and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/25/james-easdale-resigns-rangers-board" title="">the director James Easdale</a> after calling a general meeting to defeat the Ibrox board. But in a statement, the South Africa-based businessman claims the remaining directors Llambias and Barry Leach have also admitted defeat.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/dave-king-rangers-directors-quit">Continue reading...</a>RangersMike AshleyBusinessScottish ChampionshipFootballTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:36:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/dave-king-rangers-directors-quitPress Association2015-03-03T14:36:37ZIs Isis the ultimate evil? They would love you to think sohttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/isis-evil-jihadis-west
Presenting Isis as iconic demons obscures the symbiotic relationship between jihadis and the west<p>Something about the term “barrel bomb” fails to convey the horror of the weapon. Perhaps it is the alliteration, which has a kind of playful quality; maybe it’s because we associate barrels with beer and wine. But barrel bombs are the source of unimaginable horror and cruelty. As well as explosives, they often contain shrapnel to maximise the human carnage. Dropped from helicopters at heights that make precision targeting impossible, they are employed by the Bashar al-Assad regime, our de facto allies – let’s stop pretending otherwise – and until recently, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/islamic-state-iraqi-governments-illegal-barrel-bombing-of-civilian-areas-to-be-stopped-9731317.html" title="">by the Iraqi government too</a>. In just a year, barrel bombs <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/02/24/syria-new-spate-barrel-bomb-attacks" title="">killed more than 6,000 civilians in Syria</a>, nearly a third of whom were children.</p><p>But the Assad regime does not flaunt its cruelty. It does not make videos with Hollywood effects – slo-mo, closeups, haunting music, the aftermath in high definition. Instead, it adopts the same regretful tone of western powers, like when the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/16/iraq.usa" title="">US dropped flesh-burning white phosphorus over Falluja</a>. We regret any civilian casualties (or “collateral damage”, as the west prefers). We do not target civilians, unlike our opponents – and so on. The scale of death may be far greater, but the claimed intentions are different: unlike our opponents, we do not aim to kill civilians, they say, so we retain our moral superiority. Above all, the Assad regime&nbsp;does not execute white westerners and film it. Islamic State (Isis) is now the iconic demon, the stuff of nightmares – which is exactly what it wants, of course.</p><p>If we can provide context for the rise of Nazism, why not elsewhere?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/isis-evil-jihadis-west">Continue reading...</a>Islamic State (Isis)World newsSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaMohammed EmwaziUK newsArab and Middle East unrestPoliticsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:47:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/isis-evil-jihadis-westOwen Jones2015-03-03T18:47:55ZBarclays boss gets £1.1m bonus for a job half donehttp://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2015/mar/03/barclays-boss-gets-11m-bonus-for-a-job-half-done
<p>Antony Jenkins has cut costs and toughened up over traders’ bonuses – but he has yet to prove that a viable investment bank will emerge eventually</p><p>It was a year of “steady progress”, said Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins. Indeed, he regards it as so steadily progressive that he thinks it “appropriate” to accept the pay committee’s kind offer of a &pound;1.1m bonus, taking his package for the year to &pound;5.5m.</p><p>Most bank bosses, and most chief executives of large companies, would do exactly the same, make no mistake. Even so, this payout looks like a reward for completing only two laps of a four-lap race. Jenkins’ biggest task is to knock Barclays’ investment bank into shape and that job is only half-done – at best.</p><p>We still have much work to do</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/feb/13/barclays-antony-jenkins-reputation">Barclays' Antony Jenkins: the man with transformation on his mind</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2015/mar/03/barclays-boss-gets-11m-bonus-for-a-job-half-done">Continue reading...</a>BarclaysBusinessGlencore XstrataBankingMiningHSBCTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:13:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2015/mar/03/barclays-boss-gets-11m-bonus-for-a-job-half-doneNils Pratley2015-03-03T22:13:44ZAre all atheists simply angry, or just the ones to whom you're listening?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/mar/03/are-atheists-all-angry
<p>Science suggests that atheists are no more prone to anger than people of faith – but everyone believes that they are</p><p>Why are atheists so angry? The question – regularly flung around in debates about religion – is a self-fulfilling one, since atheists get pretty irritated whenever they’re asked it. But it’s revealing, too, because it pinpoints a surprising zone of agreement between believers and non-believers: many on both sides accept the premise that atheists are angrier than average. </p><p>Naturally, their reasoning differs. Evangelical Christians sometimes assert that atheists <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/kevin-sorbo-atheists-are-angry-because-they-secretly-know-god-exists-and-is-judging-them/">secretly believe in God</a> and fear he’s judging them; atheists retort that religion gives them <a href="http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html">plenty of things to be angry about</a>. Either way, it’s difficult to examine <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/richard-dawkins-anti-muslim-tweets_n_3732678.html">Richard Dawkins’s Twitter feed</a> (to pick the most unfairly obvious example) and fail to conclude that tetchiness and faithlessness go hand in hand.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/mar/03/are-atheists-all-angry">Continue reading...</a>AtheismReligionPsychologyTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:53:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/mar/03/are-atheists-all-angryOliver Burkeman2015-03-03T12:53:14ZIs stealing from a small shop worse than from a chain?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/stealing-small-shop-chain-david-lammy-moral-philosophy
David Lammy has raised interesting questions on how we judge a crime like theft. Moral absolutism and monetary value are more compatible than you think<p>Is it better to steal from a large chainstore than from a small independent shop? This is one of the questions raised in a new <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-lammy-police-turning-blind-eye-to-property-crime-10081185.html" title="">report on property crime compiled by David Lammy</a>, Labour MP for Tottenham. Lammy suggests that judgments about the seriousness of shoplifting should take into account the theft’s impact on its victim. His report argues that, “the impact of a &pound;200 theft to a large retailer is much smaller than it would be to an independent retailer.”</p><p>Lammy’s report emphasises the severity of property crime, highlighting research by the Policy Exchange thinktank which found that half of burglary victims do not hear back from police after reporting the crime.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/25/shoplifting-increase-overall-crime-figures-fall-england-wales">Shoplifting on the increase as overall crime figures fall</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/stealing-small-shop-chain-david-lammy-moral-philosophy">Continue reading...</a>CrimeUK newsDavid LammyPoliticsPhilosophyTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:56:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/stealing-small-shop-chain-david-lammy-moral-philosophyClare Carlisle2015-03-03T18:56:49ZLocking up immigrants diminishes us allhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/locking-up-asylum-seekers-channel-4-yarls-wood-immigration-centre
The latest horrors exposed by Channel 4 at Yarl’s Wood immigration centre must spark wholesale change. Tinkering and business as usual is not acceptable<p>There was a lot of noise at Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire on Monday evening as female detainees watched the <a href="http://www.channel4.com/news/yarls-wood-immigration-removal-detention-centre-investigation" title="">Channel 4 News undercover investigation</a> into conditions there. I contacted women at the centre just after the report was broadcast and could hear shouting and crying on the wing. The women expressed horror at the revelations, but at the same time joy that the attitudes of some staff had been exposed. In the footage, detainees were referred to as “black bitches”, “beasties” and “caged animals”. The investigation also found numerous incidents of self-harm and questionable standards of healthcare, including for pregnant women.</p><p>The detention centre, which has been controversial since it opened in 2001, is run by the private contractor Serco, which has suspended one member of staff in the wake of the revelations and is launching an independent review, saying: “We will not tolerate poor conduct or disrespect and will take disciplinary action wherever appropriate.” The Home Office has also ordered an investigation into the issues raised in the Channel 4 report.</p><p>Last year, 30,000 people were held in 11 immigration removal centres. Many had committed no crime</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/14/detention-female-asylum-seekers">Conference makes case for ending detention of female asylum seekers</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/locking-up-asylum-seekers-channel-4-yarls-wood-immigration-centre">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumUK newsPoliticsSocietyChannel 4Television industryMediaSercoBusinessTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:55:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/locking-up-asylum-seekers-channel-4-yarls-wood-immigration-centreDiane Taylor2015-03-03T16:55:45Z'Jihadi brides' aren't oppressed. They join Isis for the same reasons men dohttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/04/jihadi-brides-arent-oppressed-they-join-isis-for-the-same-reasons-men-do
<p>The ‘jihadi bride’ narrative is inherently sexist – it fails to acknowledge the agency of Muslim women, either in conflict or in preventing terrorism </p><p>The Islamic State (Isis) opened a women-only mall in Mosul, Iraq. In under 150 characters Um Anas expressed her praise: “No brothers allowed, this is the Khalifa.”</p><p>In another tweet, Umm Muthana brags about her newly acquired car: “Never got my license in Britain, failed it many times haha but here I drive this #IS. You jealous women of Saudi?” </p><p>... young western women are also lured by the promise of a politically and religiously pure Islamic society.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/04/jihadi-brides-arent-oppressed-they-join-isis-for-the-same-reasons-men-do">Continue reading...</a>Islamic State (Isis)Australia newsAustralian politicsJulie BishopWomenTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:36:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/04/jihadi-brides-arent-oppressed-they-join-isis-for-the-same-reasons-men-doAnne Aly2015-03-03T21:36:22ZJailing those who fail to act on child abuse won’t stop another Rotherhamhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/gesture-jailing-professionals-child-abuse-wont-stop-rotherham
The government’s plan to criminalise social workers, teachers and care staff if they turn a blind eye to child abuse will only result in defensive practice<p>Should you <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/david-cameron-child-abuse-ignore-jail" title="">go to prison if you don’t do your job properly</a>? That is the concept behind the government’s new regime for teachers, social workers, police and council staff dealing with young people. If they ignore cases of child sex grooming, they are tolerating what the prime minister bizarrely calls “a national threat”. They are guilty of “wilful neglect” and should go to jail “for up to five years”. In this grim Dutch auction, Labour’s Yvette Cooper says David Cameron “does not go far enough.”</p><p>Cameron is right to publicise the scale of neglect among officials in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/04/rotherham-council-denial-child-sexual-exploitation-failures-report" title="">Rotherham</a> and Oxfordshire cases. Terrible abuse of young people passed under the scanner of local control. It did so largely because it involved intimate relationships between teenagers and their families, neighbours, carers and ethnic communities. Criminalising not the abuse but anyone who might have known about it must fall foul of the law of unintended consequences.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/david-cameron-child-abuse-ignore-jail">Jail those who turn a blind eye to child abuse, says Cameron</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/gesture-jailing-professionals-child-abuse-wont-stop-rotherham">Continue reading...</a>Child protectionChildrenSocial careSocietyDavid CameronPoliticsYoung peopleLocal governmentUK newsTeachingEducationPublic services policyTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:06:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/gesture-jailing-professionals-child-abuse-wont-stop-rotherhamSimon Jenkins2015-03-03T10:06:28ZHow long should a severely disabled child wait for housing?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/severely-disabled-child-housing-leukaemia
I have leukaemia and my five-year-old daughter is disabled but we’ve been waiting two years for appropriate accommodation. We’re apparently not a priority – and we’re not alone<p>A mother with leukaemia. A five-year old daughter so disabled she can’t even throw an arm around the shoulders of someone carrying her up the stairs to her flat. Over two years on the housing register and no chance of even being shortlisted for a property. This is the reality of being disabled and living in housing completely inadequate for your needs.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/severely-disabled-child-housing-leukaemia">Continue reading...</a>DisabilitySocial housingSocietyHousingCommunitiesCancerHealthUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:52:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/severely-disabled-child-housing-leukaemiaStacie Lewis2015-03-03T14:52:10ZSimon Rattle is the seismic, creative shock UK classical music needshttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-is-the-seismic-creative-shock-uk-classical-music-needs
<p>Conductor’s appointment as LSO music director could be catalyst for genre’s revitalisation, from schools to (new) concert halls<br></p><p>Sir Simon Rattle’s return to Britain is a once-in-a-generation opportunity; not just for the London Symphony Orchestra, whose national significance and international profile his appointment raises exponentially, but for the whole of orchestral and classical music in the country. His presence at the top of Britain’s most acclaimed ensemble has the potential to be the catalyst for a revitalisation of classical music, from schools and music hubs to conservatoires and concert halls.</p><p> Partly it’s the politics. For the first time in living memory – or at least since Rattle left the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1998, where he was responsible for the finest recent hall for orchestral music in the UK, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall – politicians across the board feel they have to engage with classical music. With Rattle in place, he becomes the most powerful ambassador for music and music education in the country. And his priorities will be the same as they always have throughout his career: to democratise the art form, to shatter the dangerous illusion that the primary function of orchestras is to play concerts in gilt-edged cages around the world, and to connect new audiences with orchestral music. He did it in Birmingham and Berlin, and he will do it in London.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-appointed-music-director-london-symphony-orchestra">Simon Rattle appointed music director of London Symphony Orchestra</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-is-the-seismic-creative-shock-uk-classical-music-needs">Continue reading...</a>Simon RattleClassical musicLondon Symphony OrchestraUK newsCultureMusicTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:13:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-is-the-seismic-creative-shock-uk-classical-music-needsTom Service2015-03-03T10:13:33ZIndian women found their voice after the Delhi rape. Could this film help silence them again?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/indian-women-delhi-rape-film-rapist-indias-daughter
By giving a rapist a platform to justify his terrible crime, India’s Daughter risks reinforcing the views that have normalised violence against women<p>It was at a campus protest in March 2013 that I heard that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/11/apparent-suicide-delhi-rape-accused-security-lapse" title="">Ram Singh had been found hanged</a> in Delhi’s Tihar jail.</p><p>All through that winter, women and men had been out on the city’s streets, marching and organising in search of an elusive justice and equality. The city had been in a state of seething unrest since 29 December 2012, when Jyoti Singh, a medical student in her 20s, died of terrible injuries inflicted on her by a group of men who raped and tortured her on a bus. Ram Singh was one of those men.</p><p>In this, there is a very real risk of turning a rapist into the Twitter celebrity of the day</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/01/indias-daughter-documentary-rape-delhi-women-indian-men-attitudes">India’s Daughter: ‘I made a film on rape in India. Men’s brutal attitudes truly shocked me’</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/indian-women-delhi-rape-film-rapist-indias-daughter">Continue reading...</a>RapeIndiaWorld newsWomenTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:35:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/indian-women-delhi-rape-film-rapist-indias-daughterNilanjana S Roy2015-03-03T14:35:37ZI lived with an older person in return for cheap rent, but my chores quickly grewhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/young-person-live-older-person-cheap-rent-live-in-care
Schemes that match young people priced out of renting with older people with a spare room and in need of company are not the simple solution to live-in care they may appear<p>On paper, <a href="http://www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk/about-us/homeshare" title="">homesharing</a> sounds perfect. It matches young people, like myself, who can’t afford London’s rocketing rents, with older people who are lonely.</p><p>As I was about to start a full-time master’s course, I was only going to be able to work part-time, so renting a normal flat was out of the question. I searched for alternative options from being a property guardian to being an au pair.</p><p>How many older people are relying on unpaid and untrained young people in order to get cheap care in the home?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/young-person-live-older-person-cheap-rent-live-in-care">Continue reading...</a>Young peopleHousingOlder peopleCarersCare workersSocial careSocietyStudentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:38:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/young-person-live-older-person-cheap-rent-live-in-careNicola Slawson2015-03-03T16:38:38ZPension freedom day? Pension fleecing day, more likehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/pension-freedom-day-fraudsters-city-older-people
<p>Fraudsters and City types can’t wait for next month’s scramble to relieve older people of their retirement pots. Never have so many lambs been so ripe for fleecing</p><p>The old don’t, in my experience, grow much wiser – but one of David Cameron’s more cynical tropes is that anyone reaching pension age, however venal their former lives, is magically bestowed with virtue and sagacity. Showering better-off pensioners with bribes, Cameron avers it’s “what people who have worked hard and saved all their lives deserve” – regardless of the cost to current hard workers.</p><p>Some are about to be reminded that there’s no fool like an old fool. On “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/feb/28/pension-freedom-day-month-you-ready" title="">pension freedom day</a>” – 6 April – watch the retired scramble to withdraw lump sums: a feelgood bonanza for those most likely to vote Conservative. Car manufacturers predict a sales jump, so do buy-to-let estate agents and travel firms. Some will be wise to take their cash: why not take a cruise with pension pots too small to make much difference. But there’s alarm that fraudsters will make off with colossal booty, and City scammers will cream off the rest.</p><p>Surveys show people badly misjudge how long they will live, what inflation might do, and how much they will need</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/24/steve-webb-pension-u-turn-dead-duck">Steve Webb's pensions U-turn is a dead duck on the dust heap of disasters | Polly Toynbee</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/pension-freedom-day-fraudsters-city-older-people">Continue reading...</a>PensionsMoneyPoliticsDavid CameronPersonal pensionsAuto-enrolment pensionsConservativesTue, 03 Mar 2015 06:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/pension-freedom-day-fraudsters-city-older-peoplePolly Toynbee2015-03-03T06:00:08ZAdult education the loser in a game only young, full-time students winhttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/03/adult-education-young-students-part-time-university
<p>Part-time student numbers have collapsed as older, less privileged learners become victims of university commercialisation</p><p>Universities sometimes seem to have few political friends — unlike their debt-laden students. It is not hard to tell why. It is not only that individuals have the vote and institutions don’t. At times university leaders give the impression that all they care about is hanging on to the extra cash that higher fees have generated, even if this means their graduates face a lifetime of debt and the government has to pick up the bill for those who never repay their loans in full (and other public services have to suffer even greater cuts as a&nbsp;result).</p><p>But there may be a deeper reason for the indifference universities face from politicians, except as a football to be kicked in the faces of political opponents. Although it is tough to admit it, the move towards much wider access to higher education has turned into a bit of a disappointment.</p><p>Once they could turn to adult education. But, like public libraries, adult education has been cut to the bone</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/03/adult-education-young-students-part-time-university">Continue reading...</a>Higher educationUniversity fundingEducationStudentsEducation policyPoliticsTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:30:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/03/adult-education-young-students-part-time-universityPeter Scott2015-03-03T12:30:05ZBritain can be at the heart of a torture-free Europehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/torture-free-europe-police-prison-brutality-uk-scrutiny
For 25 years the Council of Europe has been fighting torture. As its head, I urge all our states to commit to erasing police and prison brutality<p>In an Austrian prison 25 years ago, a team of foreign monitors heard repeatedly from prisoners who had been beaten in police custody. Over an eight-day period, serious abuse was exposed in a country where few had imagined it. Protections were subsequently put in place – and <a href="http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/about.htm" title="">Europe’s anti-torture committee</a> was born.</p><p>You haven’t heard of them. And yet they can walk into any prison, police station, psychiatric ward or immigration detention centre at a moment’s notice. Their interventions have helped stop degrading practices across the continent. Immigrants chained to metal hooks on the floor. Prisoners kept underground for months pre-trial, with no access to natural light and no idea whether it is night or day. As recently as 2008, a visit to a police station in Northern Ireland found evidence of police tying distraught individuals, naked, to their chairs, apparently to prevent self-harm – a practice we insisted must stop.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/12/islamic-radicalisation-significant-threat-prisons">Islamic radicalisation a 'significant threat in prisons'</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/torture-free-europe-police-prison-brutality-uk-scrutiny">Continue reading...</a>TortureCouncil of EuropeHuman rightsPrisons and probationEuropeLawPoliceSocietyUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:07:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/torture-free-europe-police-prison-brutality-uk-scrutinyThorbjørn Jagland2015-03-03T13:07:47ZCollege is too late to start teaching students about sexual assaulthttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/sexual-assault-high-school-consent-rape-college
<p>There is too much misinformation and confusion about rape. That is why we should be teaching consent in high school<br></p><p>There are some essential life skills that high schools know they have to teach students. That’s why most offer classes like woodshop, home economics and drivers education. So I have to ask: Given that we’re keen to teach teenagers the basics they need to function in society, why do we still have no mandated education around rape?</p><p>Expecting high schoolers to fully grasp what sexual assault is without comprehensive education is ridiculous. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_and_pregnancy_controversies_in_United_States_elections,_2012">Politicians still</a> routinely demonstrate their ignorance around rape, the FBI only changed its outdated definition of sexual assault <a href="http://feministing.com/2011/10/20/update-fbi-changes-official-definition-of-rape/">in 2011</a>, and even the courts regularly <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/10/04/why-forcible-rape-still-matters/">muck up rape cases</a>. <br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/sexual-assault-high-school-consent-rape-college">Continue reading...</a>RapeSexualityHealthLawHigher educationSex educationSchoolsTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:30:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/sexual-assault-high-school-consent-rape-collegeJessica Valenti2015-03-03T12:30:05ZTougher punishments for texting while driving won’t workhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/tougher-punishments-texting-driving-mobiles
Mobiles are so deeply embedded in our social and work habits that not using them means a fundamental change in behaviour<p>Gloucestershire’s chief constable was right to call for tougher punishments for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-31682145" title="">drivers repeatedly caught using their mobile phones</a>. Driving while using your phone creates serious risks that justify stringent state intervention – even so far as banning drivers. However, in the long term, it is clear that Suzette Davenport’s suggestion of more severe penalties is not the only, or indeed the most effective, strategy.</p><p>The argument for increasing penalties as a basis for changing people’s behaviour is, in part, based on the assumption that at the time of behaving antisocially (whether that be speeding in your car or drinking in an alcohol-free zone) people are fully aware of the potential punitive consequences and calculate accordingly.</p><p>Enforcing the use of seat belts was easy to the extent that it only involved a slight change in how we behave in cars</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/tougher-punishments-texting-driving-mobiles">Continue reading...</a>Mobile phonesTelecomsTechnologyLawMotoringCrimeUK newsPoliceTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:06:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/tougher-punishments-texting-driving-mobilesMark Whitehead2015-03-03T12:06:31ZNo party has clear policies about the care of older peoplehttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/older-people-care-no-clear-policies-political-parties
None of the main parties is having an honest debate about relieving the distress and discomforts of people living longer with failing health<p>“Be careful what you wish for”, says Charlie, ever the cynic.</p><p>Pre-bingo coffee time in the community centre and we’d been discussing the election and what the different parties had on offer for our generation. Charlie clearly did not trust them. Nor did we, but then none of us really had the faintest idea what we were talking about because, essentially, there was no material on which to base our arguments, beyond the accusations each party made against its opponents. When I got home I did some research and was amazed to discover how little detail was available on policy options.</p><p>Tinkering about with fuel allowances, bus passes and TV licences ain’t going to resolve it</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/older-people-care-no-clear-policies-political-parties">Continue reading...</a>Older peopleGeneral election 2015PoliticsSocietyTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:59:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/older-people-care-no-clear-policies-political-partiesStewart Dakers2015-03-03T11:59:04ZWhy Britain should have an ambassador for the Arctichttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/why-britain-ambassador-arctic
This isn’t some kind of empire throwback: having a voice in the land-grab going on between world powers in the north would be a prudent step for the UK<p>Deep in a Lords select committee report published last week, at the 390th bullet point, was a recommendation that the UK should be more active in Arctic affairs. The committee recommended that “the government should follow the example of others in appointing <a href="http://geographical.co.uk/nature/polar/item/856-arctic-ambassador-advised-for-uk" title="">a UK ambassador for the Arctic</a>.”</p><p>The suggestion might seem ludicrous to many, a throwback to the days of Edwardian colonialism and earlier, more foolhardy British ventures in the far-off, frozen north. The discovery last autumn of Franklin’s shipwrecked <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/02/secrets-of-john-franklins-doomed-voyage-north-west-passage" title="">HMS Erebus</a>, and the excavation a few years earlier of the cannibalised bones of his crew should have seemed portentous enough.</p><p>‘The Shetland Isles are closer to the Arctic Circle than London is to Edinburgh'</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/why-britain-ambassador-arctic">Continue reading...</a>ArcticWorld newsUK newsRussiaHouse of LordsPoliticsTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:56:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/03/why-britain-ambassador-arcticBen Saunders2015-03-03T10:56:16ZBen Jennings on Cameron's housing pledge – cartoonhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/picture/2015/mar/03/ben-jennings-david-camerons-housing-pledge-cartoon
<p>David Cameron has pledged to build 200,000 cut-price new homes in England to be sold to young first-time buyers, while lifting the obligation on developers to provide affordable housing</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/picture/2015/mar/03/ben-jennings-david-camerons-housing-pledge-cartoon">Continue reading...</a>HousingSocial housingDavid CameronPoliticsUK newsPropertyMoneyHousing marketSocietyCommunitiesTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:59:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/picture/2015/mar/03/ben-jennings-david-camerons-housing-pledge-cartoonBen Jennings2015-03-03T11:59:05ZFurness hospital's 'lethal mix' of failings led to deaths of 12, report sayshttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/furness-hospitals-lethal-mix-of-failings-led-to-deaths-of-12-report-says
<p>Bereaved parent says ‘To err is human, to cover up is unforgivable’ as report finds ‘failures at almost very level’ including midwives on ‘seriously dysfunctional’ maternity ward dubbed ‘musketeers’ due to cavalier attitude</p><p>A “lethal mix” of failings at almost every level led to the unnecessary deaths of one mother and 11 babies in the maternity unit of a Cumbrian hospital, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/408480/47487_MBI_Accessible_v0.1.pdf">according to an independent report (pdf)</a>.</p><p>The investigation into deaths at Furness general hospital in Barrow between 2004 and 2013 found maternity services were beset by a culture of denial, collusion and incompetence.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/furness-hospitals-lethal-mix-of-failings-led-to-deaths-of-12-report-says">Continue reading...</a>HospitalsHealthChildbirthLake DistrictHealth & wellbeingLabourConservativesJeremy HuntMid Staffordshire NHS TrustNHSDoctorsMidwiferyHarold ShipmanHouse of CommonsAndy BurnhamTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:36:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/furness-hospitals-lethal-mix-of-failings-led-to-deaths-of-12-report-saysNigel Bunyanand James Meikle2015-03-03T20:36:43ZMorecambe Bay: Labour and Tories call for new checks on hospital deathshttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/morecambe-bay-labour-and-tories-call-for-new-checks-on-hospital-deaths
<p>Pledges come after report revealed how 11 babies and a mother died unnecessarily at a Cumbria maternity unit due to failures ‘at every level’</p><p>Both Labour and the Tories have pledged to introduce an independent system of medical checks on all deaths following the publication of a report that revealed how 11 babies and a mother died unnecessarily at a Cumbria maternity unit due to failures “at every level”.</p><p>The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, apologised in the Commons on Tuesday to the families of the victims who died at Furness general hospital as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/morecambe-bay-report-lethal-mix-problems-baby-deaths-cumbria">an independent report laid bare a culture of denial, collusion and incompetence</a>.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/morecambe-bay-report-lethal-mix-problems-baby-deaths-cumbria">Morecambe Bay report exposes 'lethal mix' of failures that led to baby deaths</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/morecambe-bay-labour-and-tories-call-for-new-checks-on-hospital-deaths">Continue reading...</a>HospitalsMorecambe Bay reportNHSUK newsJeremy HuntAndy BurnhamHealthTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:53:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/morecambe-bay-labour-and-tories-call-for-new-checks-on-hospital-deathsJames Meikle2015-03-03T16:53:50ZRolf Harris is stripped of CBEhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/rolf-harris-is-stripped-of-cbe
<p>Harris, 84, who was jailed for nearly six years for sex attacks on girls as young as seven, loses honour awarded in 2006 <br></p><p>Rolf Harris, who was convicted of assaulting young girls last year, has been stripped of the CBE awarded to him by the Queen.</p><p>An <a href="https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2295581">official announcement in the London Gazette states</a>: “The Queen has directed that the appointment of Rolf Harris to be a Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 17 June 2006, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/rolf-harris-is-stripped-of-cbe">Continue reading...</a>Rolf HarrisUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:57:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/rolf-harris-is-stripped-of-cbeMark Tran2015-03-03T15:57:30ZFormer Morrisons tax boss jailed for a year over insider dealinghttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/former-morrisons-tax-paul-coyle-jailed-insider-dealing
<p>Paul Coyle, 50, had made £79,000 in sharemarket profits after using information he had about an impending tie-up with the online retailer Ocado</p><p>The former head of tax at the Morrisons supermarket chain has been jailed for a year after pleading guilty to insider dealing, from which he made &pound;79,000 of profits.</p><p>Paul Coyle, who was also group treasurer of the Bradford-based business, made his plea at Leeds crown court to the charges brought by the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. He was also ordered to pay &pound;15,000 towards prosecution costs and subjected to a confiscation order for &pound;203,234. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/former-morrisons-tax-paul-coyle-jailed-insider-dealing">Continue reading...</a>MorrisonsUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:23:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/former-morrisons-tax-paul-coyle-jailed-insider-dealingJill Treanor2015-03-03T19:23:24ZTheresa May 'allowed state-sanctioned abuse of women' at Yarl's Woodhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/yarls-wood-may-state-sanctioned-abuse-women
<p>Shadow home secretary criticises minister after TV documentary alleges rape and self-harm at detention centre were ignored</p><p>Theresa May, the home secretary, has been accused of allowing the “state-sponsored abuse of women” at the Yarl’s Wood detention centre after a Channel 4 investigation uncovered guards ignoring self-harm and referring to inmates in racist terms.</p><p>Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said it was a “disgrace” that May had refused to come to the House of Commons to answer an urgent question about the mistreatment of detainees, sending a junior minister instead.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/yarls-wood-may-state-sanctioned-abuse-women">Continue reading...</a>Immigration and asylumPoliticsYvette CooperTheresa MayLabourConservativesUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:03:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/yarls-wood-may-state-sanctioned-abuse-womenRowena Mason, political correspondent2015-03-03T15:03:42ZBoris Johnson tells Cage research director to defend victims of Isishttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/boris-johnson-cage-isis-london-mayor-asim-qureshi-mohammed-emwazi
<p>London mayor tells Asim Qureshi to stop scattering blame around over actions of Mohammed Emwazi</p><p>Boris Johnson has told the research director of the advocacy group Cage that he should stop “scattering blame around” over the actions of Mohammed Emwazi and stick up for the human rights of those who have been beheaded by Islamic State.</p><p>In an impassioned encounter with Asim Qureshi on his LBC phone-in, the London mayor said he should “stop crying Islamophobia” and focus on condemning the “sick atrocities” perpetrated by Emwazi.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/boris-johnson-cage-isis-london-mayor-asim-qureshi-mohammed-emwazi">Continue reading...</a>Boris JohnsonIslamic State (Isis)Mohammed EmwaziSyriaMiddle East and North AfricaUK newsWorld newsUK security and counter-terrorismTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:05:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/boris-johnson-cage-isis-london-mayor-asim-qureshi-mohammed-emwaziNicholas Watt, chief political correspondent2015-03-03T12:05:32ZHitman murdered woman to stop indecent assault claim, court toldhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/hitman-murdered-woman-to-stop-indecent-assault-claim-court-told
<p>Justin Robertson, 36, is accused of being paid £1,500 to kill Pennie Davis by the son of her former partner</p><p>A woman was stabbed to death as she tended her horses in the New Forest by a hitman recruited to stop her from making indecent assault allegations, a court has heard.<br /></p><p>Pennie Davis, 47, who worked at a supermarket, was found dead by her husband on 2 September in a field at Leygreen Farm, Beaulieu, Hampshire. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/hitman-murdered-woman-to-stop-indecent-assault-claim-court-told">Continue reading...</a>UK newsCrimeTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:26:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/hitman-murdered-woman-to-stop-indecent-assault-claim-court-toldSteven Morris2015-03-03T17:26:36ZMiliband promises posthumous pardons for convicted gay menhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/miliband-promises-turing-law-posthumous-pardons-gay-conviction
<p>Turing’s Law would allow family and friends to apply for gross indecency convictions to be quashed </p><p>Ed Miliband has said a future Labour government would introduce a “Turing’s law”, offering posthumous pardons for gay men convicted under historical indecency laws.</p><p>Labour said the legislation would allow the men’s family and friends to apply to the Home Office to quash convictions under the “gross indecency” law for consensual same-sex relationships.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/miliband-promises-turing-law-posthumous-pardons-gay-conviction">Continue reading...</a>LGBT rightsEd MilibandLabourGeneral election 2015UK newsAlan TuringTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:05:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/miliband-promises-turing-law-posthumous-pardons-gay-convictionMark Tran2015-03-03T12:05:10ZSave the Children head apologises for upset over award to Tony Blairhttp://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/mar/03/save-the-children-head-apologises-for-upset-over-award-to-tony-blair
<p>Charity’s UK chief executive admits its ‘global legacy’ honour to former British prime minister has damaged the organisation</p><p>Save the Children has apologised to those who were upset by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/25/save-the-children-furious-charity-global-legacy-tony-blair">its decision to give Tony Blair a “global legacy award”</a> last year, saying the prize was bestowed solely for the former British prime minister’s work on Africa and was not intended as a celebration of his “wider legacy”.<br /></p><p>On Tuesday <a href="http://blogs.savethechildren.org.uk/author/jforsyth/">Justin Forsyth, CEO of Save the Children UK and a former aide to Blair</a>, admitted the move had damaged the international charity.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/mar/03/save-the-children-head-apologises-for-upset-over-award-to-tony-blair">Continue reading...</a>Global developmentTony BlairCharitiesVoluntary sectorAfricaTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:43:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/mar/03/save-the-children-head-apologises-for-upset-over-award-to-tony-blairSam Jones2015-03-03T14:43:38ZMissing father and son sought by policehttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/missing-father-son-police-kieran-carroll
<p>Kieran Carroll and two-year-old boy last seen in Luton early on Tuesday</p><p>Police are urgently trying to trace a young father who has gone missing with his eight-month-old son.</p><p>Bedfordshire police said Kieran Carroll, 22, was reported missing in Luton early on Tuesday.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/missing-father-son-police-kieran-carroll">Continue reading...</a>UK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:33:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/missing-father-son-police-kieran-carrollPress Association2015-03-03T18:33:56ZPeregrine falcon found shot dead at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's headquartershttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/peregrine-falcon-found-shot-dead-at-derbyshire-wildlife-trusts-headquarters
<p>Police launch investigation into illegal killing of male bird of prey that was nesting in a mill tower at the Trust’s offices in Belper</p><p>A peregrine falcon which was nesting on Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s office roof has been discovered shot dead outside the building in Belper.</p><p>Police have launched an investigation into the illegal killing after the corpse of the male bird was found by a local photographer and x-rays <a href="http://www.derbyshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/news/2015/03/02/shot-peregrine-found-dead-derbyshire-wildlife-trust-headquarters">revealed it had been recently killed by a shot lodged in its shoulder</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/peregrine-falcon-found-shot-dead-at-derbyshire-wildlife-trusts-headquarters">Continue reading...</a>BirdsEnvironmentWildlifeAnimalsUK newsDerbyEndangered speciesConservationTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:32:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/peregrine-falcon-found-shot-dead-at-derbyshire-wildlife-trusts-headquartersPatrick Barkham2015-03-03T13:32:55ZTory minister criticises 'inhuman inflexibility' in benefit sanctionshttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/tory-minister-inhuman-inflexibility-benefit-sanctions
<p>Business minister Nick Boles says system needs to be looked at after election, despite colleagues’ defence of sanctions</p><p>A senior Conservative minister has criticised the “inhuman” application of benefit sanctions, despite the government’s official position that there is no need for a further review of the penalty system.</p><p>Nick Boles, a business and education minister, told constituents the way sanctions were used in some cases did need to be looked at but acknowledged that change was not likely until after the general election.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/tory-minister-inhuman-inflexibility-benefit-sanctions">Continue reading...</a>WelfareConservativesPoliticsBenefitsUK newsSocietyTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:46:29 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/tory-minister-inhuman-inflexibility-benefit-sanctionsRowena Mason, political correspondent2015-03-03T11:46:29ZSol Campbell rules out contesting Tory seat to be vacated by Malcolm Rifkindhttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/sol-campbell-rules-out-kensington-seat-malcolm-rifkind
<p>Former England footballer ends speculation he may put name forward for Kensington seat, saying his ‘ambitions lie elsewhere in the political arena’</p><p>The former England footballer Sol Campbell has ended speculation he may contest the safe Conservative seat of Kensington, which is being vacated by Sir Malcolm Rifkind. But he has not ruled out a bid to become London mayor, saying he has ambitions “elsewhere in the political arena”.</p><p>Campbell, an ex-Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur defender, has been courted by the Conservatives and recently had lunch with party chairman Grant Shapps. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/24/sir-malcolm-rifkind-resigns-isc-chairman-step-down-mp">Malcolm Rifkind resigns as ISC chairman and will step down as MP</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/sol-campbell-rules-out-kensington-seat-malcolm-rifkind">Continue reading...</a>Sol CampbellFootballSportPoliticsUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:02:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/03/sol-campbell-rules-out-kensington-seat-malcolm-rifkindPress Association2015-03-03T15:02:35ZPolice release 'shocking' CCTV footage of stabbing of London teenagerhttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/police-release-shocking-cctv-footage-stabbing-london-teenager
<p>Appeal for help in identifying suspects after Alan Cartwright, 15, died after being attacked when cycling with friends in Caledonian Road, Islington</p><p>Police have released what they describe as shocking CCTV footage of the moment a teenager was stabbed in the chest as he was cycling with friends along a busy road.</p><p>Alan Cartwright, 15, managed to continue cycling a short distance after the attack in Caledonian Road in Islington, north London, on Friday, but soon collapsed and was pronounced dead at the scene later.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/police-release-shocking-cctv-footage-stabbing-london-teenager">Continue reading...</a>LondonUK newsKnife crimeTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:52:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/03/police-release-shocking-cctv-footage-stabbing-london-teenagerPress Association2015-03-03T09:52:01ZSNP attacks Scottish Labour leader's tuition fees pledgehttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/snp-scottish-labour-tuition-fees-pledge
<p>Jim Murphy, who backed fees policy under Tony Blair, accused of hypocrisy for saying Labour would keep university tuition free in Scotland</p><p>Jim Murphy has been accused of “shameless hypocrisy” after he announced that university tuition would remain free in Scotland if Labour wins power, despite backing the introduction of fees south of the border under Tony Blair.</p><p>In a speech to students on Tuesday, the Scottish Labour leader said his party would keep tuition free for Scottish universities as part of a package of enhanced university funding and a new &pound;125m programme to get the poorest students into higher education.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/snp-scottish-labour-tuition-fees-pledge">Continue reading...</a>Jim MurphyScottish politicsLabourScottish National party (SNP)Tuition feesUniversity fundingScotlandUK newsPoliticsHigher educationTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:51:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/snp-scottish-labour-tuition-fees-pledgeSeverin Carrell, Scotland correspondent2015-03-03T12:51:04ZUK government to clamp down on London's 'billionaire basements'http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/uk-government-london-billionaire-basements-construction-health-safety-properties
<p>Construction inspectors from Health and Safety Executive to look at luxury London properties amid concerns over rise in fatalities and serious injuries</p><p>The rise in “billionaire basements” – subterranean home extensions in some of London’s most expensive boroughs – is attracting fresh scrutiny amid concerns over a rise in fatalities and serious injuries.<br /></p><p>An investigation by construction inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive will look at properties in Kensington and Chelsea as well as Hammersmith and Fulham next week, as the government prepares to clamp down on unsafe practices.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/09/billionaires-basements-london-houses-architecture">Billionaires' basements: the luxury bunkers making holes in London streets</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/uk-government-london-billionaire-basements-construction-health-safety-properties">Continue reading...</a>Construction industryUK newsLondonTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:30:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/03/uk-government-london-billionaire-basements-construction-health-safety-propertiesKaren McVeigh2015-03-03T16:30:24ZBank of England warns of huge financial risk from fossil fuel investmentshttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/bank-of-england-warns-of-financial-risk-from-fossil-fuel-investments
<p>Global action on climate change could cause insurers’ investments in fossil fuels to take a huge hit, says bank’s prudential regulation authority</p><p>Insurance companies could suffer a “huge hit” if their investments in fossil fuel companies are rendered worthless by action on climate change, <a href="http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2015/804.aspx">the Bank of England warned</a> on Tuesday.</p><p>“One live risk right now is of insurers investing in assets that could be left ‘stranded’ by policy changes which limit the use of fossil fuels,” said Paul Fisher, deputy head of the bank’s prudential regulation authority (PRA) that supervises banks and insurers and is tasked with avoiding systemic risks to the economy.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/bank-of-england-warns-of-financial-risk-from-fossil-fuel-investments">Continue reading...</a>Fossil fuelsEnvironmentClimate changeBusinessBank of EnglandEnergyGlobal climate talksUK newsFossil fuel divestmentEconomicsTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:55:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/bank-of-england-warns-of-financial-risk-from-fossil-fuel-investmentsDamian Carrington2015-03-03T10:55:27ZFerguson mired in sweeping racial discrimination, federal report findshttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/justice-department-racial-discrimination-ferguson-police
<p>Report will charge that police disproportionately use excessive force against black residents and that black drivers are stopped more often than white drivers</p><p>Black residents of Ferguson, Missouri, routinely had their constitutional rights violated through unjustified arrests, traffic stops and other actions carried out by a racially biased police department, the US Department of Justice has concluded, according to multiple reports.<br /></p><p>An extensive federal review of Ferguson’s police force is said to have found that officers disproportionately used excessive force against black people, who were also subject to arrests without probable cause and stops when driving without reasonable suspicion.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/ferguson-report-obama-email-black-man-steady-job">Ferguson report's racist Obama email: 'What black man holds a steady job for four years'</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/justice-department-racial-discrimination-ferguson-police">Continue reading...</a>MissouriRace issuesUS newsUS policingObama administrationWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 20:00:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/justice-department-racial-discrimination-ferguson-policeJon Swaine in New York2015-03-03T20:00:20ZBritish refusal to cooperate with spy inquiry causes row in Germanyhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/british-refusal-cooperate-spy-inquiry-row-germany
<p>Committee under pressure to censor disclosures about UK activity after Downing Street threatens to break off intelligence-sharing with Berlin</p><p>Downing Street and the German chancellery are embroiled in a worsening dispute over intelligence-sharing and the covert counter-terrorism campaign because of conflicts arising from the surveillance scandals surrounding the US National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ.<br /></p><p>According to German newspaper reports citing government and intelligence officials in Berlin, the Bundestag’s inquiry into the NSA controversy is being jeopardised by Britain’s refusal to cooperate and its threats to break off all intelligence-sharing with Berlin should the committee reveal any UK secrets.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/british-refusal-cooperate-spy-inquiry-row-germany">Continue reading...</a>GermanyForeign policyEspionageGCHQNSAPoliticsUK newsWorld newsEuropeUK security and counter-terrorismTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:10:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/british-refusal-cooperate-spy-inquiry-row-germanyIan Traynor, Europe editor2015-03-03T12:10:43ZRoadside bombs slow attempt to liberate Iraqi city from Isishttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/iraqi-troops-join-shia-militias-to-try-and-liberate-tikrit-from-isis
<p>Shia fighters backed by Iran join Sunni tribal warriors and Baghdad government troops in attempt to oust Islamic State from Tikrit</p><p>Iraqi troops and Shia militia fought with Islamic State extremists south of the militant-held city of Tikrit, but their offensive to retake Saddam Hussein’s home town was slowed by roadside bombs, local officials said.</p><p>Backed by Iranian-backed Shia militia and advisers, along with Sunni tribal fighters, Iraqi government forces made little headway on the second day of a large-scale military operation to recapture Tikrit, which fell to Isis last summer, two officials said.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/iraq-assault-islamic-state-strongholds-baghdad">Iraqi army and militia begin assault on Isis strongholds north of Baghdad</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/iraqi-troops-join-shia-militias-to-try-and-liberate-tikrit-from-isis">Continue reading...</a>IraqIslamic State (Isis)IranMiddle East and North AfricaWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:30:25 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/iraqi-troops-join-shia-militias-to-try-and-liberate-tikrit-from-isisAssociated Press in Baghdad2015-03-03T12:30:25ZControversy swirls in Norway as Nobel peace prize chair forced outhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/thorbjrn-jagland-ousted-as-nobel-peace-prize-committee-chair
<p>Thorbjørn Jagland’s demotion greeted with jubilation from some rightwingers, marking the first time the Nobel committee leader has been deposed<br></p><p>The committee that awards the Nobel peace prize was embroiled in controversy on Tuesday when its chair was ousted by rightwingers, the first time the committee’s leader has been deposed in the 114-year history of the Nobel prize.</p><p>Speculation that Thorbj&oslash;rn Jagland, the Labour party chair of the committee since 2009, would be forced out had been mounting since the director of the Nobel Institute said in October the practice of appointing former political leaders to the committee had become a “burden” on its independence. Jagland is a Norwegian former prime minister and foreign minister. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/nobel-prize-winners-in-numbers">Nobel prize-winners in numbers</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/thorbjrn-jagland-ousted-as-nobel-peace-prize-committee-chair">Continue reading...</a>Nobel peace prizeNorwayWorld newsEuropeTue, 03 Mar 2015 21:59:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/thorbjrn-jagland-ousted-as-nobel-peace-prize-committee-chairDavid Crouch in Gothenburg2015-03-03T21:59:10ZBoko Haram beheadings footage echoes Isis video techniqueshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/boko-haram-beheadings-video-isis
<p>Apparent footage of killings by Nigerian Islamist sect replicate the advanced graphics and editing associated with Islamic State killings</p><p>The Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram has released a video that purportedly shows militants beheading two men, its first online posting using the advanced graphics and editing techniques associated with Islamic State.</p><p> The film, released on Monday, opens with two men on their knees, their hands tied behind their backs, and a militant standing over them holding a knife.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/boko-haram-beheadings-video-isis">Continue reading...</a>Boko HaramNigeriaWorld newsAfricaTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:10:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/boko-haram-beheadings-video-isisReuters in Abuja2015-03-03T11:10:46ZIreland passes plain packaging bill for cigaretteshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/ireland-passes-plain-packaging-bill-cigarettes-smoking-tobacco
<p>Republic leads charge in Europe by passing bill that will mean tobacco products cannot use colourful livery, thereby reducing attraction of smoking to youngsters</p><p><br /></p><p>Ireland has become the first country in Europe to ban branded cigarette packets. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/ireland-passes-plain-packaging-bill-cigarettes-smoking-tobacco">Continue reading...</a>IrelandSmokingTobacco industryEuropeWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:56:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/ireland-passes-plain-packaging-bill-cigarettes-smoking-tobaccoHenry McDonald, Ireland correspondent2015-03-03T19:56:18ZBoston Marathon bombing trial to begin two years after deadly terror attackhttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/boston-marathon-bombing-trial-dzhokhar-tsarnaev
<p>Jury seated in trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger and only survivor of the two brothers accused in the 2013 attack that killed three and injured hundreds</p><p>It has been almost two years since two backpack bombs, made from pressure cookers and stuffed with nails and ball-bearings, were detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds of others in the most jarring terror attack on US soil since 9/11.</p><p>On Wednesday, just two miles from where the bombs went off, the trial of the younger of the two alleged perpetrators is finally set to begin.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/boston-marathon-bombing-trial-dzhokhar-tsarnaev">Continue reading...</a>Boston Marathon bombingBostonMassachusettsDzhokhar TsarnaevUS newsWorld newsTamerlan TsarnaevTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:21:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/boston-marathon-bombing-trial-dzhokhar-tsarnaevNicky Woolf in Boston2015-03-03T19:21:15ZFrance debates smacking in runup to Council of Europe judgmenthttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/france-debates-smacking-council-europe-judgment-le-monde-laurence-rossignol
<p>Human rights watchdog’s leaked report says law allowing ‘right to discipline’ is not clear enough, as polls find majority of French public opposes smacking ban </p><p>France has been plunged into a heated debate on smacking as Europe’s human rights watchdog prepares to publish strong criticism of the country’s failure to explicitly ban the corporal punishment of children.<br /></p><p>The Council of Europe judgment expected on Wednesday will find French law is not “sufficiently clear, binding and precise” on the issue of hitting children, according to leaks to Le Monde. </p><p>Children who had never been hit were the best brought up, and better at listening to adults and their authority</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/france-debates-smacking-council-europe-judgment-le-monde-laurence-rossignol">Continue reading...</a>FranceChildrenParents and parentingCouncil of EuropeEuropeFamilyWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:51:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/france-debates-smacking-council-europe-judgment-le-monde-laurence-rossignolAngelique Chrisafis in Paris2015-03-03T15:51:48ZErdogan's meals tested for poison amid security fearshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/recep-tayyep-erdogan-turkey-food
<p>Turkish president’s personal doctor says ‘It’s usually not through bullets that prominent figures are being assassinated these days’</p><p>Every meal that goes before the Turkish president, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/recep-tayyip-erdogan">Recep Tayyip Erdogan</a>, is rigorously tested both at home and abroad for fear of assassination, his personal doctor said.</p><p>And now a special food analysis laboratory will be built at Erdogan’s controversial presidential palace to make sure all his food is safe to eat, Cevdet Erdol told the Hurriyet newspaper on Tuesday.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/recep-tayyep-erdogan-turkey-food">Continue reading...</a>Recep Tayyip ErdoganTurkeyWorld newsMiddle East and North AfricaTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:52:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/recep-tayyep-erdogan-turkey-foodAgence France-Presse in Ankara2015-03-03T16:52:48ZMalaysia Airlines MH17 relatives see wreckage of plane at Dutch airbasehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/mh17-relatives-wreckage-plane-malaysia-airlines-airbase
<p>Friends and family of those who died on flight last year invited to military base to inspect ruins of jet downed over Ukraine</p><p>Relatives of those killed when Malaysia Airlines flight 17 was downed over Ukraine have visited a Dutch airbase to view the wreckage of the plane.</p><p>For almost all of them, it was the first chance to see the twisted and charred wreckage that lay for months in the battlefields of eastern Ukraine after the plane plunged to the ground on 17 July, most likely after being hit by a missile. All 298 passengers and crew on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/mh17-relatives-wreckage-plane-malaysia-airlines-airbase">Continue reading...</a>Malaysia Airlines flight MH17Plane crashesAir transportNetherlandsUkraineEuropeWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:51:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/mh17-relatives-wreckage-plane-malaysia-airlines-airbaseAssociated Press at Gilze-Rijen airbase2015-03-03T16:51:51ZNobel peace prize committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland demotedhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/nobel-peace-prize-committee-chairman-thorbjorn-jagland-demoted
<p>Former Norwegian prime minister, who drew criticism for awarding prestigious prize to Barack Obama, to be replaced by deputy in unprecedented move</p><p>Norway’s Nobel peace prize committee has demoted its chairman, Thorbj&oslash;rn Jagland, in a move unprecedented in the long history of the award.</p><p>The committee, which said the former Norwegian prime minister would remain as a committee member, gave no reason for its decision.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/nobel-peace-prize-committee-chairman-thorbjorn-jagland-demoted">Continue reading...</a>Nobel peace prizeNorwayWorld newsEuropeTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:34:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/nobel-peace-prize-committee-chairman-thorbjorn-jagland-demotedAgence France-Presse in Oslo2015-03-03T17:34:05ZTamir Rice's mother calls for apology from 'disrespectful' Cleveland policehttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/tamir-rice-mother-cleveland-apology
<p>City claimed Tamir, 12, who was shot by a police officer in November, was ‘directly and proximately’ responsible for his own death</p><p>The mother of Tamir Rice has called for the city of Cleveland to apologise for shooting her son dead last year, describing officials’ claims that Tamir was responsible for his own death as “very disrespectful”. Rice was <a href="http://preview.gutools.co.uk/us-news/2014/nov/26/tamir-rice-video-shows-boy-shot-police-cleveland">shot dead by a police officer</a> in November.</p><p>In documents filed by the city, defense attorneys argued that 12 year-old Tamir was “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/01/tamir-rice-directly-proximately-responsible-police-shooting-death-city">directly and proximately</a>” responsible for his own death. The city mayor <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/02/tamir-rice-blame-cleveland-mayor-apologizes">has since apologised for the remarks</a>, describing them as “very insensitive” and stating the city planned to alter the wording.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/tamir-rice-mother-cleveland-apology">Continue reading...</a>OhioUS crimeUS newsUS policingWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:51:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/tamir-rice-mother-cleveland-apologyOliver Laughland in New York2015-03-03T18:51:04ZVolcano erupts in southern Chilehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/volcano-villarrica-erupts-southern-chile
<p>More than 3,000 people evacuated from homes after Villarrica sends lava and ash high into sky over nearby tourist resort of Pucón</p><p>A volcano in southern Chile has erupted in a series of massive explosions, sending fountains of orange flames thousands of feet into the night sky. </p><p>An estimated 3,400 people were evacuated from the area around Villarica, including parts of the towns Puc&oacute;n and Conaripe. Chilean authorities issued a red alert and sealed off roads surrounding the volcano, located in a tourist enclave outside the city of Temuco. The president, Michelle Bachelet, announced an emergency visit to the zone. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/volcano-villarrica-erupts-southern-chile">Continue reading...</a>VolcanoesChileWorld newsAmericasTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:10:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/volcano-villarrica-erupts-southern-chileJonathan Franklin in Santiago2015-03-03T13:10:49ZChina investigates second top soldier in corruption probe into armed forceshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/china-investigates-second-top-soldier-corruption-guo-boxiong-zhenggang-xu-caihou
<p>Vice chairman of central military commission Guo Boxiong and his son Guo Zhenggang, a major general, come under scrutiny in wake of Xu Caihou scandal</p><p> China is investigating a second former top military officer on suspicion of corruption, two independent sources told Reuters, as President Xi Jinping widens his campaign against deep-rooted graft in the country.</p><p> Guo Boxiong, 72, was a vice chairman of the powerful central military commission until he stepped down in 2012. Another former vice chairman, Xu Caihou, was put under investigation last year for corruption.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/china-investigates-second-top-soldier-corruption-guo-boxiong-zhenggang-xu-caihou">Continue reading...</a>ChinaAsia PacificWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:20:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/china-investigates-second-top-soldier-corruption-guo-boxiong-zhenggang-xu-caihouReuters in Beijing2015-03-03T13:20:36ZWartime pope film angers Vatican and Jewshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/wartime-pope-pius-film-angers-vatican-jews
<p>Film in defence of Pius XII, accused of failing to bring attention to Hitler’s attempted extermination of the Jews, universally panned</p><p>An Italian film that attempts to defend the wartime pope, Pius XII, against accusations that he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust has been criticised by the Vatican as well as Catholic and Jewish media. </p><p>Shades of Truth is the account of a fictional present-day American journalist and critic of Pius who changes his mind after carrying out research in Israel, Rome and elsewhere in Europe. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/wartime-pope-pius-film-angers-vatican-jews">Continue reading...</a>Pope Pius XIICatholicismSecond world warWorld newsChristianityReligionTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:10:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/wartime-pope-pius-film-angers-vatican-jewsReuters in Vatican City2015-03-03T16:10:58ZHillary Clinton used personal email for all government business, says reporthttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/hillary-clinton-used-personal-email-account-for-all-government-business-report-claims
<p>Former US secretary of state may have broken federal law by using the private email account, according to the New York Times</p><p>Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton may have violated federal records laws by using a personal email account for all of her work messages, the New York Times reported on Monday.</p><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;module=a-lede-package-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news">The newspaper said</a> the likely Democratic presidential candidate conducted all her official business during her four-year tenure at the State Department on a private email account.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/hillary-clinton-used-personal-email-account-for-all-government-business-report-claims">Continue reading...</a>US newsWorld newsHillary ClintonTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:31:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/hillary-clinton-used-personal-email-account-for-all-government-business-report-claimsReuters2015-03-03T13:31:45ZTaxi firm Addison Lee to debut in New York after controversy in Londonhttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/taxi-addison-lee-uber-new-york-controversy-in-london
<p>Company that sparked protests in the UK after founder’s comments about cyclist deaths will vie with Uber for control of New York City’s $3.4bn taxi market </p><p>Controversial London taxi firm Addison Lee is preparing to take on New York City’s famous yellow cabs, and go head-to-head with Uber, for control of the city’s $3.4bn taxi market.<br /></p><p>Addison Lee sparked protests in London after <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/20/addison-lee-minicab-boss-cyclists">its multimillionaire founder said cyclist deaths were inevitable and often the cyclists’ own fault</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/taxi-addison-lee-uber-new-york-controversy-in-london">Continue reading...</a>New YorkUS newsLondonUK newsWorld newsRoad transportBusinessUberTechnologyTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:39:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/taxi-addison-lee-uber-new-york-controversy-in-londonRupert Neate in New York2015-03-03T14:39:20ZSuge Knight tells LA court he is going blindhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/suge-knight-tells-la-court-he-is-going-blind
<p>Former rap mogul is hospitalised for third time since being charged with murder, and sacks his lawyers</p><p>Suge Knight told a Los Angeles court on 2 March that he was nearly blind and “can’t really comprehend what was going on”. He was taken to a prison infirmary after the hearing, at which he also announced he had fired his lawyers and claimed he was receiving inadequate medical care in prison.</p><p>Knight was last month charged with murder and attempted murder following an incident in which he struck two men with his pick-up truck. Terry Carter, 55, was killed when Knight’s vehicle hit him in the parking lot of a burger stand in Compton.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/02/suge-knight-murder-accident-straight-outta-compton">The truth outta Compton: why did Suge Knight run over his friend with a truck?</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/suge-knight-tells-la-court-he-is-going-blind">Continue reading...</a>Suge KnightMusicPop and rockRapHip-hopUrban musicUS crimeLos AngelesCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:17:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/suge-knight-tells-la-court-he-is-going-blindGuardian music2015-03-03T09:17:37ZIndian state bans beef and brings in five-year jail terms for possessionhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/indian-state-bans-beef-and-brings-in-five-year-jail-terms-for-possession
<p>Western state of Maharashtra bans slaughter of bulls and bullocks and makes sale or possession of beef illegal<br></p><p> India’s western state of Maharashtra has introduced a ban on beef so strict that even possession could land you in jail for five years, media reports and the chief minister said on Tuesday.</p><p>The country’s Hindu majority considers cows sacred, and several states already ban their slaughter.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/indian-state-bans-beef-and-brings-in-five-year-jail-terms-for-possession">Continue reading...</a>IndiaReligionHinduismWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:30:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/indian-state-bans-beef-and-brings-in-five-year-jail-terms-for-possessionAgence France-Presse in Mumbai2015-03-03T15:30:57ZBreast cancer patient’s daily headgear selfies raise £8,000 for Macmillanhttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/breast-cancer-patient-headgear-selfies-macmillan
<p>Sara Cutting is raising awareness and funds for the charity by posting a photograph of herself in different headgear every day, from cakes to kitchen roll</p><p>On the 141st day of her self-appointed challenge – to post a cheery selfie in outrageous headgear every day throughout her cancer treatment – Sara Cutting woke up without an idea in her bald head.</p><p>“I just could not think of anything new to do,” she said. “When I was going through the chemo I used to make lists of ideas for the days when I felt really poorly and couldn’t really think of anything, but I’d used up all of those.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/breast-cancer-patient-headgear-selfies-macmillan">Continue reading...</a>Breast cancerCancerHealthCancerMedical researchUK newsCharitiesTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:06:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/breast-cancer-patient-headgear-selfies-macmillanMaev Kennedy2015-03-03T17:06:35ZParis fashion week phrasebook: how to blag your way through the city of stylehttp://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/03/paris-fashion-week-phrasebook-how-to-blag-your-way-through-the-city-of-style
<p>As the fashion industry collectively hops on the Eurostar for Paris fashion week, we present a survival glossary for the most intimidatingly chic of cities, where people all speak English but pretend they don’t</p><p> This compilation of expressions, heard straight from the horse’s mouth – terrifying PRs and formidable editors — will help you combat expert cattiness and have you screaming <em>“comme c’est vulgaire!’’</em> in no time.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/03/paris-fashion-week-phrasebook-how-to-blag-your-way-through-the-city-of-style">Continue reading...</a>Paris fashion weekFashionParis fashion week spring/summer 2015Fashion weeksLife and styleTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:37:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/mar/03/paris-fashion-week-phrasebook-how-to-blag-your-way-through-the-city-of-styleAlice Pfeiffer2015-03-03T14:37:30ZMobile World Congress – five of the most eye-catching innovationshttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/03/mobile-world-congress-five-of-the-most-eye-catching-innovations
<p>Around 2,000 companies have flocked to Barcelona to show off their new wares, from iris-recognition phones to sat navs for cyclists or furniture that charges your device</p><p>Wearables of every shape and size have littered the exhibition halls at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, where 2,000 companies have gathered to show off their wares to a forecast record 90,000-plus visitors this week.</p><p>Apple traditionally stays away from the event, giving rivals a chance to get noticed, although the iPhone maker is set to unveil its digital watch on Monday. HTC, Huawei, Samsung and LG have all rushed to release their own wrist-based screens.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/03/mobile-world-congress-five-of-the-most-eye-catching-innovations">Continue reading...</a>Mobile phonesMobile phonesTelecomsConsumer affairsSmartphonesSmartwatchesApple WatchAppleHTCComputingLGSamsungIkeaRetail industryTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:39:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/03/mobile-world-congress-five-of-the-most-eye-catching-innovationsJuliette Garside in Barcelona2015-03-03T17:39:26ZDave’s like, sorry Lynton, last question, what do I wear tomorrow? I’m WTAF, that is MY jobhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/mrs-camerons-diary-chooses-husbands-clothes
How Samantha Cameron might have commented on reports that she chooses her husband’s clothes for him<p>Well when we saw the news I was like, what do you see babes, Dave was like, defo white &amp; gold, I’m like OMG snap, white &amp; gold, Dave’s like, wait up babes, what do YOU see Lynton? I’m like, forget him, you MUST call David Tredinnick for a scientific explanation, Mr Cobber goes, blue &amp; black guys, end of. I’m like hello, he’s like, time for your bedtime snack Dave mate, Dave’s like, but what should I eat Lynton? Mr Cobber is like, a&nbsp;salami &amp; Vegemite bagel, now move it, that will be &pound;45,000 plus VAT, I’ll leave the invoice in the hall, how will you be paying? Dave’s like thanks Lynton you are a genius, goodness knows what Samantha would have made me eat if&nbsp;you were not here!</p><p>I’m like *menacing voice* so now you are literally telling Dave what to see as well as what to say? He’s like, all part of Lynton’s HandyStrategist service, sweetheart, oh look we’re into another half hour now, where’s me pad. I’m like, well Dave can think for himself thank you, he’s like, sweetheart, in our in-depth polling 93% of our target voters associated the white &amp; gold dress with gay marriage, uncontrolled immigration and garlic, I’m like, so? He’s like, so all Conservative MPs will now see that dress as blue and fucking black, do I make myself clear, now bedtime Dave, Dave’s like, sorry Lynton, last question, what do I wear tomorrow?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/mrs-camerons-diary-chooses-husbands-clothes">Continue reading...</a>Samantha CameronLife and styleTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:02:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/mrs-camerons-diary-chooses-husbands-clothesAs seen by Catherine Bennett2015-03-03T19:02:32ZNigel Slater’s carrot and cardamom soup with herb ricotta dumplings recipehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/nigel-slater-carrot-cardamom-soup-with-herb-ricotta-dumplings
<p>A light, main-course vegetable soup with tantalising ricotta dumplings</p><p>Scrub and roughly chop 400g of carrots. Cut 2 ribs of celery into short lengths. Peel and roughly chop an onion. Put the carrots, celery and onion into a deep pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and cook over a moderate heat for 10 minutes. Add a couple of bay leaves and 6 black peppercorns to the pan then crack open 6 cardamom pods, extract the seeds and grind them to a coarse powder, then add to the vegetables with a little salt and a litre of vegetable stock or water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the carrots are soft. Blitz the soup in a blender or food processor till quite smooth.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/nigel-slater-carrot-cardamom-soup-with-herb-ricotta-dumplings">Continue reading...</a>Vegetarian food and drinkSoupFood & drinkLife and styleTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/nigel-slater-carrot-cardamom-soup-with-herb-ricotta-dumplingsNigel Slater2015-03-03T12:00:04ZThe film that makes me cry: Babehttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/mar/03/the-film-that-makes-me-cry-babe
<p>Babe charts the rise of a cute orphaned piglet who is polite to sheep and befriends a surly farmer. It also encapsulates themes of social isolation and animal cruelty. Eleanor Ross tells us why she finds Babe so traumatising</p><p>As an adult, I had it pointed out to me by my mother that Babe – held up as the “cutesy” film of the 1990s – was actually pretty mean, encapsulating as it did themes of social isolation, animal cruelty and victimisation: no wonder I’m left traumatised every time I watch it.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/mar/02/the-film-that-makes-me-cry-the-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly">The film that makes me cry: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Peter Bradshaw</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/mar/03/the-film-that-makes-me-cry-babe">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureAnimalsTue, 03 Mar 2015 08:32:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/mar/03/the-film-that-makes-me-cry-babeEleanor Ross2015-03-03T08:32:00ZWorld of Warcraft moves closer to free-to-playhttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/world-of-warcraft-moves-closer-to-free-to-play
<p>The multiplayer role-playing game is launching the ‘WoW Token’, which could make paid subscription a thing of the past </p><p>World of Warcraft is set to launch real-money transactions and the ability to play without paying for a subscription, as developers Blizzard move to position the game against free-to-play competitors.</p><p>The company is introducing “WoW tokens”, which can be bought from other players for in-game gold, or from Blizzard for real money, and exchanged for 30 days of game time. That currently costs &pound;9.99 on Blizzard’s Battle.net store, although it drops to &pound;8.69 if bought in bulk. The changes mean players can for the first time buy in-game gold from Blizzard indirectly .</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/world-of-warcraft-moves-closer-to-free-to-play">Continue reading...</a>World of WarcraftRole playing gamesGamesTechnologyInternetTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:00:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/world-of-warcraft-moves-closer-to-free-to-playAlex Hern2015-03-03T13:00:32Z20 best chocolate recipes: part 2http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/ofm-20-best-chocolate-recipe-part-2-nigella-lawson-paul-young-caramel-truffles
<p>From Nigella Lawson’s Guinness cake to Paul A Young’s salted caramel truffles, delicious recipes chosen by Observer Food Monthly<br>• Part 3 of this series launches on Wednesday</p><p>Here is a pudding that needs no introduction.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/ofm-20-best-chocolate-recipe-part-2-nigella-lawson-paul-young-caramel-truffles">Continue reading...</a>ChocolateDessertBakingFood & drinkLife and styleTue, 03 Mar 2015 08:00:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/ofm-20-best-chocolate-recipe-part-2-nigella-lawson-paul-young-caramel-trufflesFergus Henderson, Nigella Lawson, Bruno Loubet, Paul A Young, Kitty Travers2015-03-03T08:00:11ZLet’s go to … Glasgowhttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/03/lets-go-to-glasgow-comedy-festival-food-drink-hotels
<p>This month’s comedy festival in Glasgow is the biggest in Europe: here’s what to see, do, eat and drink when your aching sides can’t take any more laughs</p><p><strong>Glasgow in winter … are you having a laugh?</strong><br />No, but you could be at the <a href="http://www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com/">Glasgow Comedy Festival</a>, the largest in Europe (even bigger than that Fringe thingy in another Scottish city that will remain nameless). Now in its 13th year, it will feature more than 300 shows in 40 venues around the city.</p><p><strong>Who’s headlining this year?</strong><br />Stewart Lee, Dylan Moran, Jimmy Carr, Al Murray, Simon Amstell, Jerry Sadowitz, Nina Conti, Rich Hall, Frankie Boyle …</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/feb/03/great-city-walks-glasgow">Great city walks: Glasgow</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/03/lets-go-to-glasgow-comedy-festival-food-drink-hotels">Continue reading...</a>GlasgowUnited KingdomFood and drinkCity breaksWeekend breaksShort breaksTravelComedyTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/03/lets-go-to-glasgow-comedy-festival-food-drink-hotelsGavin McOwan2015-03-03T11:00:03ZFive things we've learned about the state of the UK's environmenthttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/five-things-weve-learned-about-the-state-of-the-uks-environment
<p>Every five years the European Environment Agency reports on the state of Europe’s environment – here’s how the UK fares in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/air-pollution-will-kill-thousands-in-europe-eea-warns">its latest update</a></p><p>The UK has shown a marked improvement in the last decade, coming seventh in the list of countries generating most municipal waste per capita in 2004, with 602 tonnes per person, but 13th on the same list for 2012, with 472 tonnes ?, as recycling rates doubled from 23% to 46%. Ireland was top of the first list, with 737 tonnes, and sixth in the second with 587 tonnes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/five-things-weve-learned-about-the-state-of-the-uks-environment">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentEuropeEuropean UnionWorld newsTravel and transportWaterFarmingRenewable energyWasteUK newsOrganicsTue, 03 Mar 2015 08:53:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/five-things-weve-learned-about-the-state-of-the-uks-environmentFiona Harvey2015-03-03T08:53:57ZPalm scent: the science of smelling after a handshakehttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/03/palm-scent-the-science-of-smelling-after-a-handshake
<p>New study reveals participants unconsciously sniff their right hand after shaking it with others as part of process to pick up chemical signals about others<br></p><p>A firm handshake has long been viewed as a hallmark of success in the business world, but scientists say that the scent of your hand could also play a part. A study has revealed that after shaking hands, people tend to unconsciously sniff their own right hand, which the authors believe could be a discreet way of picking up chemical signals about those around us.</p><p> Prof Noam Sobel, who led the work at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, said: “Unlike rodents, cats and dogs, it isn’t socially acceptable to walk up and sniff each other. We think this is a way we’ve developed to collect this information in a subliminal fashion.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/03/palm-scent-the-science-of-smelling-after-a-handshake">Continue reading...</a>PsychologyScienceAnimal behaviourBiologyHuman biologyTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:00:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/03/palm-scent-the-science-of-smelling-after-a-handshakeHannah Devlin science correspondent2015-03-03T07:00:13ZThe results are in: study reveals average penis sizehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/the-results-are-in-study-reveals-average-penis-size
<p>International study of 15,000 penises is being used to reassure men concerned they are not within the ‘normal range’</p><p>The enduring question now has a scientific answer: 13.12 centimetres (5.16 inches) in length when erect, and 11.66cm (4.6 inches) around, according to an analysis of more than 15,000 penises around the world.<br /></p><p>In a flaccid state, it found, the penis of the average man is 9.16cm (3.6 inches) in length and has a girth of 9.31cm (3.7 inches).</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/the-results-are-in-study-reveals-average-penis-size">Continue reading...</a>BiologySexHealthUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 06:57:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/03/the-results-are-in-study-reveals-average-penis-sizeAgence France-Presse2015-03-03T06:57:39ZWhisper it, but maybe the Palace of Westminster has had its dayhttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/whisper-it-but-maybe-the-palace-of-westminister-has-had-its-day
<p>Portcullis House has already become the centre of gravity for MPs, proving that parliament can adapt. Maybe it’s time to look beyond the great old Gothic pile</p><p>Let me share a secret with you. Even those who love the Gothic extravagance that is the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/parliament-falling-down-palace-westminster-restoration-cost">Victorian Palace of Westminster</a> know that great swaths of it are out of date. Parts of it were out of date before the 30-year rebuilding programme of 1840-70 was completed, as MPs and peers complained at the time.</p><p>In 2015 the urgent question is again what to do about it. As the Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, said in a speech on Monday – here is the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/02/john-bercow-westminster-renovation-parliament-leave">Guardian’s account</a> – radical decisions have to be taken about its future, the options ranging from staggering on as usual with make-do-and-mending to a new 21st-century building on a new site, possibly far from London.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/whisper-it-but-maybe-the-palace-of-westminister-has-had-its-day">Continue reading...</a>House of CommonsHouse of LordsPoliticsUK newsArchitectureLondonWinston ChurchillScotlandEdinburghJohn BercowTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:00:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/whisper-it-but-maybe-the-palace-of-westminister-has-had-its-dayMichael White2015-03-03T19:00:44ZWhich are the best countries in the world to grow old in?http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/which-best-countries-grow-old-in-pensions-benefits-happiness
<p>Pensions and healthcare benefits vary widely across the globe as do people’s perception of their happiness</p><p>Australia’s notoriously labyrinthine $150bn (&pound;75.8bn) welfare system last week underwent a major review, which essentially <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/24/disability-payment-to-be-means-tested-in-mcclure-welfare-shake-up">recommended an overhaul</a>. However the Commonwealth-funded age pension was conspicuously absent. A <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/22/budget-razor-gang-shelved-plan-to-cut-pension-payments-to-wealthy-seniors">politically sensitive topic</a>, it was not in the scope set by the conservative Abbott government, despite it being the largest and most expensive part of Australia’s social security.Australians are living and working for longer. By 2013 the number of Australians aged 65 and over had <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3235.0#PARALINK2">increased by 533,000</a> from five years previously, and 17% of people aged 45 and older <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6238.0Main%20Features3July%202012%20to%20June%202013?opendocument&amp;tabname=Summary&amp;prodno=6238.0&amp;issue=July%202012%20to%20June%202013&amp;num=&amp;view=">expected to work beyond the age of 70</a>. In 2012-13, more than half of all retired men and a quarter of retired women named the government pension/allowance as their main source of income, a 45% increase on the number who told the Australian Bureau of Statistics they relied on it when they first retired. Superannuation payments (9.5% of a salary contributed by an employer) have been compulsory since 1992.<a href="http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/age-pension">State pensions</a> are available to Australian residents over the age of 65 (67 by 2023) who have lived in Australia for at least 10 years (with some exceptions such as refugee status) and who meet income and asset requirements. In 2011, that translated to 60% of Australians of qualifying age. People who work past the pension age can still receive <a href="http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/age-pension">partial benefits</a> or a <a href="http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/pension-bonus-scheme">lump sum</a> under incentive schemes.Each fortnight pension recipients get a <a href="http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/age-pension">maximum payment</a> of A$776.70 (&pound;392) for singles, or A$585.50 (&pound;296) if you are part of a couple. A payment supplement of up to A$63.50 (&pound;32.13) a fortnight covers a pharmaceutical allowance, on top of Australia’s publicly funded <a href="http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/dhs/medicare">universal healthcare benefit scheme</a>, and utilities allowances. Each state and territory also offers cheaper travel and retail discounts to people over 60.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/which-best-countries-grow-old-in-pensions-benefits-happiness">Continue reading...</a>Older peopleSocietyPensionsMoneyBenefitsAustralia newsSouth AfricaJapanRussiaWelfareFranceItalyTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/which-best-countries-grow-old-in-pensions-benefits-happinessHelen Davidson, Kate Connolly, Justin McCurry, David Crouch, Shaun Walker, Mary O'Hara, David Smith, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Anne Penketh, Henry McDonald2015-03-03T14:00:02ZWhat scares the new atheistshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheists
The vocal fervour of today’s missionary atheism conceals a panic that religion is not only refusing to decline – but in fact flourishing<p>In 1929, the Thinker’s Library, a series established by the Rationalist Press Association to advance secular thinking and counter the influence of religion in Britain, published an English translation of the German biologist Ernst Haeckel’s 1899 book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Riddle-Universe-Great-Minds-Haeckel/dp/0879757469">The Riddle of the Universe</a>. Celebrated as “the German Darwin”, Haeckel was one of the most influential public intellectuals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; The Riddle of the Universe sold half a million copies in Germany alone, and was translated into dozens of other languages. Hostile to Jewish and Christian traditions, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/251305/Ernst-Haeckel">Haeckel</a> devised his own “religion of science” called Monism, which incorporated an anthropology that divided the human species into a hierarchy of racial groups. Though he died in 1919, before the Nazi Party had been founded, his ideas, and widespread influence in Germany, unquestionably helped to create an intellectual climate in which policies of racial slavery and genocide were able to claim a basis in science.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinker%27s_Library">The Thinker’s Library</a> also featured works by Julian Huxley, grandson of TH Huxley, the Victorian biologist who was known as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/feb/09/darwin.bestseller">“Darwin’s bulldog”</a> for his fierce defence of evolutionary theory. A proponent of “evolutionary humanism”, which he described as “religion without revelation”, Julian Huxley shared some of Haeckel’s views, including advocacy of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/17/eugenics-skeleton-rattles-loudest-closet-left">eugenics</a>. In 1931, Huxley wrote that there was “a certain amount of evidence that the negro is an earlier product of human evolution than the Mongolian or the European, and as such might be expected to have advanced less, both in body and mind”. Statements of this kind were then commonplace: there were many in the secular intelligentsia – including HG Wells, also a contributor to the Thinker’s Library – who looked forward to a time when “backward” peoples would be remade in a western mould or else vanish from the world.</p><p>It’s inconceivable that a professed unbeliever could become president of the United States</p><p>If only the world wasn’t plagued by these troublesome God-botherers, they are always lamenting</p><p>“It is not only possible, but, on present evidence, probable that most conceptions of the good, and most ways of life, which are typical of commercial, liberal, industrialised societies will often seem altogether hateful to substantial minorities within these societies and even more hateful to most of the populations within traditional societies … As a liberal by philosophical conviction, I think I ought to expect to be hated, and to be found superficial and contemptible, by a large part of mankind.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheists">Continue reading...</a>AtheismReligionChristianityIslamWorld newsPhilosophyTue, 03 Mar 2015 06:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheistsJohn Gray2015-03-03T06:00:08ZOn the front foot: charting the rise of trainers in fashionhttp://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/03/on-the-front-foot-charting-the-rise-of-trainers-in-fashion
<p>Fashion’s fascination with trainers has grown steadily over the last few years. See the rise of the trend in charts</p><p>Trainers have been having something of a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/mar/08/2014-year-trainers-went-high-fashion-nike">moment in the fashion world</a> over the past few years. From glittering versions on the Chanel catwalk to minimalist versions that have become the statement shoe of choice, it seems this trend - practical as well as stylish - can be seen as readily on the feet of the fashion pack as a designer handbag can be spotted dangling off an arm. </p><p>Although it’s certainly not the first time fashion has embraced trainers, this latest fascination, which as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/aug/15/how-to-dress-the-minimal-trainer">Lauren Cochrane points out</a> started a few years ago in the year of the 2012 Olympics, has grown steadily since.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/03/on-the-front-foot-charting-the-rise-of-trainers-in-fashion">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleFashionChanelTechnologyTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:31:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/03/on-the-front-foot-charting-the-rise-of-trainers-in-fashionAmi Sedghi2015-03-03T14:31:45ZInside Chicago's legacy of police abuse: violence 'as routine as traffic lights'http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/chicago-police-violence-homan-square
<p>Ordinary Chicagoans say Homan Square facility, where suspects are interrogated and detained without legal access, fits within a broader tradition of police abuse </p><p>He would go on to investigate torture for a distinguished religious group, become an anti-apartheid campaigner and even an adviser to his city’s mayor. But before all that, in the early 1960s, Prexy Nesbitt was just another young black man thrown over the hood of his car by one of Chicago’s notoriously brutal police.</p><p>Nesbitt, then in his late teens, had put his Checker Marathon between a police cruiser and the vehicle of a woman he saw a cop harassing. The white officer, evidently dissatisfied, drew his gun and pointed it at Nesbitt’s left temple. Later taken to a police station, Nesbitt ultimately got out of the situation unharmed, he remembered, because his schoolteacher father and pediatrician uncle were well respected in their Lawndale neighborhood – where, then as now, the red brick towers and warehouse complex now known as the Homan Square police facility marks the skyline.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/26/police-black-site-chicago-washington-politicians-human-rights">'Gestapo' tactics at US police 'black site' ring alarm from Chicago to Washington</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/19/chicago-police-richard-zuley-abuse-innocent-man">How Chicago police condemned the innocent: a trail of coerced confessions</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/chicago-police-violence-homan-square">Continue reading...</a>Homan SquareChicagoUS justice systemWorld newsUS newsHuman rightsLawUS politicsTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:39:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/03/chicago-police-violence-homan-squareSpencer Ackerman2015-03-03T17:39:09ZMarseille's Muslims need their Grand Mosque – why is it still a car park?http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/03/marseille-muslim-community-grand-mosque
<p>The city’s 250,000-strong Muslim community was promised its first official mosque in 2001. Then the 14 years of lawsuits, money issues and ego wars began</p><p><br />In 2001, Marseille’s incumbent mayor, Jean-Claude Gaudin, made a bold campaign promise: the city would build a Grand Mosque for its Muslim community. The 15th arrondissement site – former home, ironically enough, to a non-halal slaughterhouse – would host the country’s biggest centre for Islamic worship, with a minaret, a religious school, a library, a restaurant and tea salon, at an estimated cost of €22m. For Marseille’s Muslim population, the second largest in France, here at long last was an important acknowledgement.</p><p>Fourteen years later, the site remains a car park. Nothing has been laid but a single symbolic foundation stone, as legal challenges, money issues and ego wars continue to rage. Meanwhile, Marseille’s Muslim population has in many ways never been worse off, heavily concentrated in some of the city’s poorest areas of North Marseille – an economically deprived district that was spotlighted in the news two weeks ago after 100 French special forces locked down the Castellane estate (unemployment rate: 49%) when <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/09/marseille-housing-estate-reports-gunfire">inhabitants opened fire with Kalashnikovs</a>. </p><p>The city's Muslim leaders have refused offers of support from Qatar, Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia</p><p>The future for the Grand Mosque itself looks increasingly Kafkaesque</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/03/marseille-muslim-community-grand-mosque">Continue reading...</a>CitiesIslamFranceMarseilleReligionEuropeWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:05:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/03/marseille-muslim-community-grand-mosqueAnnabelle Azadé2015-03-03T13:05:36ZHow video games helped me come to terms with male pattern baldnesshttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/video-games-male-pattern-baldness-dark-souls
<p>The onset of hair loss was devastating to writer Joe Donnelly – until a game called Dark Souls arrived and changed his perspective</p><p>“Screw you, you baldy bastard,” cried the man I’d spent the last 15 minutes alongside, slaughtering Russian mobsters and seizing bag-loads of drugs. We were at the end of a Grand Theft Auto IV online mission and things had gone wrong; somehow, I was getting the blame, despite the fact that he<em> </em>was the one who nearly blew the plan by leaving me behind at the helipad.<em> </em>Nonetheless, a belligerent grenade, tossed at me in spite, marked the end of our contemptuous partnership. It was his words however, not the explosion, that cut deepest. </p><p>He couldn’t have known it of course – we spoke over headsets, and his remark was aimed at my onscreen character and not at me – but I was going through the early stages of male pattern baldness and the associated dawning denial that accompanies the ordeal. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/video-games-male-pattern-baldness-dark-souls">Continue reading...</a>GamesTechnologyCultureGame cultureLife and styleMen's hairPCTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:10:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/03/video-games-male-pattern-baldness-dark-soulsJoe Donnelly2015-03-03T12:10:27Z'Child sexual exploitation is in the back of our minds all the time'http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/child-sexual-exploitation-minds-all-time-oxfordshire-kingfisher
<p>How Oxfordshire is working to prevent a repeat of the failings that led to hundreds of children being abused by gangs over two years</p><p>DI Laura MacInnes has worked in child protection in Oxfordshire for 25 years. When asked how the county’s police could have turned a blind eye as hundreds of children were sexually exploited by local gangs over a two-year period, she shakes her head and looks down at the floor. </p><p> “It’s amazing how understanding of child sexual exploitation has changed in the last two years,” she says. “Child exploitation was not really a known phenomenon. We didn’t understand it. If I’m honest, we just didn’t think anyone would do something as awful as we have now seen does happen. We were blinkered.”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/01/gangs-abused-hundreds-of-oxfordshire-children-serious-case-review">Serious case review slams police failure in serial abuse of Oxford girls</a> </p><p>We just didn’t think anyone would do something as awful as we have now seen does happen. We were blinkered</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/child-sexual-exploitation-minds-all-time-oxfordshire-kingfisher">Continue reading...</a>Child protectionUK newsChildrenSocial careSocietyOxfordPoliceTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:16:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/03/child-sexual-exploitation-minds-all-time-oxfordshire-kingfisherAmelia Hill2015-03-03T11:16:15ZWakey-wakey: American Ballet Theatre’s new Sleeping Beautyhttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/dance-blog/2015/mar/03/alexei-ratmansky-sleeping-beauty-american-ballet-theatre
<p>Alexei Ratmansky is aiming to make his new production of the classic ballet as close to Marius Petipa’s 1890 original as he can – and the dancers are rising to the physical challenge</p><p>It’s midday in New York, and the traffic on Broadway is pitched to a honking, blaring, strident roar. But inside the rehearsal studios of <a href="http://www.abt.org/default.aspx">American Ballet Theatre</a>, fairies dance and courtiers amuse themselves in a gentle game of blind-man’s buff, as choreographer <a href="http://www.abt.org/education/archive/choreographers/ratmansky_a.html">Alexei Ratmansky</a> directs his dancers through the second act of Marius Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty.</p><p>In many ways, this is business as usual for ABT, who have been dancing the popular 19th-century classic for decades. But it is a new production that they are working on, and what’s drawing the attention of the ballet world is not only the fact that its being staged by Ratmansky (one of today’s most interesting classical choreographers ) but that Ratmansky believes he’s got closer to aspects of the original 1890 choreography than any other contemporary production – reconstructing details and style which over the decades have been smoothed over, modernised, made more generically “ballet”.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/dance-blog/2015/mar/03/alexei-ratmansky-sleeping-beauty-american-ballet-theatre">Continue reading...</a>American Ballet TheatreBalletDanceCultureStageUS newsWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:25:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/dance-blog/2015/mar/03/alexei-ratmansky-sleeping-beauty-american-ballet-theatreJudith Mackrell2015-03-03T16:25:44ZBaddies in books: Woland, Bulgakov’s charming devilhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/03/baddies-in-books-woland-devil-master-and-margarita
<p>The seductive rogue who haunts the pages of The Master and Margarita is a very complex kind of Satan</p><p>Two men, an editor and a poet, walk through Moscow’s Patriarch’s Ponds one afternoon in Stalinist Russia. As the editor lectures his friend on the non-existence of Jesus Christ, a foreigner appears, introducing himself as Professor W, and tells them what he insists is the true story of the meeting of Christ and Pontius Pilate. The man has one eye that is blank and completely black, another that is crazed. What happens next is a mirror of these two eyes: within minutes, the editor is dead; by morning, the poet is mad and locked in an asylum.</p><p>From the moment we meet the “enigmatic professor” Woland in The Master and Margarita, he is a disorienting figure. Witness reports of the opening accident describe his appearance in confusing, varying detail – “one says he was short, had gold teeth, and was lame in his right foot. Another says that he was hugely tall, had platinum crowns and was lame in his left foot. Yet a third notes laconically that he had no distinguishing features whatsoever.” Though we come to understand that Woland is the devil, Bulgakov is rarely explicit, preferring to use other titles, as if to feed the idea that to meet him will drive you insane. Throughout the book, Woland is “a stranger”, “a visitor”. Then, after he mysteriously acquires a gig at the Variety Theatre, he is “a visiting celebrity”, “a famous foreign artiste”, a “magician”. Only the Master, the poet’s neighbour in the asylum, sees who he truly is. “He’s unmistakeable, my friend!”</p><p>“… who are you, then?<br />I am part of that power <br />which eternally wills evil<br />and eternally works good.”<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/03/baddies-in-books-woland-devil-master-and-margarita">Continue reading...</a>Mikhail BulgakovCultureBooksTue, 03 Mar 2015 08:00:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/03/baddies-in-books-woland-devil-master-and-margaritaEmma-Lee Moss2015-03-03T08:00:11ZWhy the OED are right to purge nature from the dictionaryhttp://www.theguardian.com/science/the-lay-scientist/2015/mar/03/why-the-oed-are-right-to-purge-nature-from-the-dictionary
<p><strong>Martin Robbins: </strong>Attacking a dictionary for removing archaic words is like punching your thermometer when it’s too cold. </p><p>If the pen is mightier than the sword then words are probably more lethal than bullets, and that makes Oxford Dictionaries the most powerful military force in the world. This metaphor helps explain two things: why I’m not a very successful writer, and why a group of authors are so concerned that a variety of words relating to nature were culled from the Oxford Junior Dictionary.<br /></p><p>The purge actually happened in 2007, but in January this year a number of the Anglosphere’s literary giants, including Andrew Motion and Margaret Atwood, joined a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/13/oxford-junior-dictionary-replacement-natural-words">campaign by some 28 writers to get the Oxford University Press to reconsider their position</a>, protesting at the loss of healthy outdoor words in favour of language that is, “associated with the increasingly interior, solitary childhoods of today”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/feb/27/robert-macfarlane-word-hoard-rewilding-landscape">The word-hoard: Robert Macfarlane on rewilding our language of landscape</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/the-lay-scientist/2015/mar/03/why-the-oed-are-right-to-purge-nature-from-the-dictionary">Continue reading...</a>ScienceLiteracyBooksEnvironmentRural affairsCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 09:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/science/the-lay-scientist/2015/mar/03/why-the-oed-are-right-to-purge-nature-from-the-dictionaryMartin Robbins2015-03-03T09:30:01ZGrimethorpe, the mining village that hit rock bottom – then bounced backhttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/grimethorpe-hit-rock-bottom-then-bounced-back
<p>Thirty years after pit workers ended their one-year strike and returned to work, local people recall how their community has been transformed</p><p> At the end of a year without wages, their families impoverished and embittered by the struggle they had lost, thousands of Grimethorpe miners gathered in the centre of the village behind the colliery brass band to march back to work.</p><p>It was 5 March 1985, two days after a defeated Arthur Scargill voted to end the country’s longest-running industrial dispute without a peace deal.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/grimethorpe-hit-rock-bottom-then-bounced-back">Continue reading...</a>The miners' strike 1984-85YorkshireUK newsCommunitiesTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/grimethorpe-hit-rock-bottom-then-bounced-backKaren McVeigh2015-03-03T07:00:09ZHow do I become … a priesthttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/03/how-become-priest
<p>More than faith, it also requires managerial skills, empathy and, sometimes, a strong stomach</p><p>The calling, when it came, was not a siren summons from above. Instead, it was a slow logical dawning that shifted Tim Pike’s career ambition from politician to ordained ministry in the Church of England. “I was an altar boy at my parish church when I was 11,” says the 46-year-old vicar of Holy Innocents in north London. “The older boys did more interesting things like swing the incense and carry the cross, so I assumed it was a natural progression up the hierarchy and that you ended up being the priest.”</p><p>He was 15 and had achieved the status of cross bearer when his faith crystallised. “The priest was reading out the Beatitudes while I held the cross, and I thought yes, I really believe this,” he says. “My parish priest was one of the wisest, kindest people I knew and I wanted to be somebody like him.”</p><p>Praying is one thing I can do for people, and it’s surprising how many ask you to pray with them when you visit</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/03/how-become-priest">Continue reading...</a>Work & careersMoneyReligionWorld newsUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:10:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/03/how-become-priestAnna Tims2015-03-03T12:10:08ZThe Forgotten Story of ... Jochen Rindthttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/mar/03/formula-one-motor-sport-jochen-rindt-scott-hunt
The German-born Austrian F1 driver, who was killed in practice before the Italian Grand Prix in 1970, remains the only man to win the world championship posthumously <br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/mar/07/features.sportmonthly" title="">• The 10 most dramatic F1 races of all time</a><p>Regular viewers of BBC’s Pointless will tell you that when a question arises asking the contestants to name a Formula One driver, two answers are normally given – Juan Pablo Montoya and Jochen Rindt. Both were great Formula One drivers of their respective eras and yet now earn maximum points on a quiz show that rewards obscure knowledge. It is enough to make hardened F1 observers shake their heads with disbelief.</p><p>While it may be understandable that Montoya’s exploits in the early 2000s have been overlooked, Rindt’s drives in the 1960s and 70s definitely deserve more widespread appreciation, especially given the German-born Austrian is the only posthumous F1 world champion. Scratch below the surface and you unearth a story that cuts to the heart of motor racing. A story of speed, aggression and an unquenchable will to win in the face of life-threatening danger.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/mar/03/formula-one-motor-sport-jochen-rindt-scott-hunt">Continue reading...</a>Formula OneMotor sportSportTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:25:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/mar/03/formula-one-motor-sport-jochen-rindt-scott-huntScott Hunt2015-03-03T15:25:11ZThe Lib Dems’ education policies: you ask the questionshttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/lib-dems-education-policies-schools-david-laws
In the runup to the general election we’re giving readers the chance to grill the main schools spokespeople. Second in our series is the Lib Dems’ David Laws<p><strong>David Goldfinch, Folkestone, Kent, parent and ex-Lib Dem voter</strong></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/10/green-party-education-policies-general-election">The Green party’s education policies: you ask the questions</a> </p><p>We are not yes men. In government alone the Conservatives would have cut school budgets, destroying our efforts</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/lib-dems-education-policies-schools-david-laws">Continue reading...</a>Education policyEducationPoliticsSchoolsGeneral election 2015Liberal DemocratsDavid LawsTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:15:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/lib-dems-education-policies-schools-david-lawsGuardian Staff2015-03-03T07:15:09ZShould the UK be subsidising the world's first tidal lagoons?http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/should-the-uk-be-subsidising-the-worlds-first-tidal-lagoons
<p>Company begins approval process for project that could power 1.5m homes in Wales, but concerns remain over enormity of scale and high electricity costs </p><p>The company planning to build a series of massive tidal lagoons in the UK claim their project can generate electricity that will be competitive with offshore wind and nuclear power. But experts have urged the government to take a cautious approach to the massive capital investment.</p><p>The world’s first tidal lagoon power station is ready to begin construction in Swansea, Wales should it attain planning approval. The project <a href="http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/cr_fuel_water_post_digital_telecoms/swansea-bay-lagoon-consutation.htm">has been criticised</a> for its exorbitant electricity costs, estimated to be &pound;168/MWh. When the project begins generation in 2018, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/26/uk-backs-315m-renewable-energy-projects">onshore wind will be producing electricity for less than half of this price</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/should-the-uk-be-subsidising-the-worlds-first-tidal-lagoons">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentWind powerRenewable energyEnergyUK newsWalesEnergy industryMon, 02 Mar 2015 17:20:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/should-the-uk-be-subsidising-the-worlds-first-tidal-lagoonsKarl Mathiesen2015-03-02T17:20:12ZWhat does it feel like to die?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/01/what-does-it-feel-like-to-die
People who have survived clinical death sometimes recount out-of-body experiences. But can these sensations be physically proved?<p>In March 2012, the Bolton Wanderers midfielder <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/05/bringing-fabrice-back-from-the-dead" title="">Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the field during a televised FA Cup match</a> against Tottenham Hotspur. He had suffered a heart attack and was clinically dead, with no vital signs, for a considerable length of time. Remarkably, he survived, and has since described his impressions of what happened. At first, he said, he felt a surreal dizziness, as though he was running along inside someone else’s body. The last thing he remembers is seeing two of the Tottenham player Scott Parker. Interestingly, he reports no feeling of pain.</p><p>I can’t be the only person whose initial empathy for Muamba and his family was the starting point for a deeper reflection, above all concerning my future death. When will it come? (Hopefully, not for many years.) What will be its circumstances? (Peaceful, I hope.) And, very simply – what does it feel like to die?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/01/what-does-it-feel-like-to-die">Continue reading...</a>Death and dyingLife and styleHealth & wellbeingSun, 01 Mar 2015 18:30:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/01/what-does-it-feel-like-to-dieRichard Stephens2015-03-01T18:30:03ZQuotation marks – where do these literary titles come from? Quizhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/quiz/2015/mar/03/quotation-literary-titles-quiz
You know the books, but do you know where the authors found their names? Find out with our fiendish questions about the books behind the books <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/quiz/2015/mar/03/quotation-literary-titles-quiz">Continue reading...</a>FictionPoetryCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:04:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/quiz/2015/mar/03/quotation-literary-titles-quizHenry Ellison2015-03-03T17:04:00ZWhat is your experience of hospital food?http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/what-is-your-experience-of-hospital-food
<p>Share your hospital food photographs to help us assess the state of NHS catering</p><p>Hospital catering is back in the spotlight, as minimum standards are being introduced to NHS catering contracts as of next month. Food writer Prue Leith, writing in the Guardian, said that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/mar/02/hospital-catering-reforms-weak-prue-leith ">hospital food in Britain was a scandal, and that the reform plans were feeble</a>. </p><p>Do you have any memorable hospital food experiences, and better still, did you take any photos? If so, we want to hear from you. In the interests of privacy, please do not name the hospital your photo was taken in or any related individuals.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/hospital-food-nutrition-recovery-ministers">Hospital food is a recipe for disaster | Prue Leith</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/what-is-your-experience-of-hospital-food">Continue reading...</a>HospitalsNHSMon, 02 Mar 2015 13:25:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/02/what-is-your-experience-of-hospital-foodGuardian readers2015-03-02T13:25:15ZReaders' travel photography competition: March - colourhttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/03/readers-travel-photography-competition-march-colour
<p>From the brightest shades to the subtlest hues, send us your travel shots on the theme of colour, via <a href="https://witness.theguardian.com/">GuardianWitness</a>, and you could win an incredible trip to Swedish Lapland</p><p>For our March competition, we want to see your best photographs under the theme of colour. Whether it’s the rainbows in the sky to the subtle greens and blues of the sea, and anything in between, send us your photographs and you will be in with a chance of a winning an <a href="https://www.artisantravel.co.uk/holidays/lulea-fredrik-broman-photography-holiday">Arctic activity and photography trip to Swedish Lapland</a>.</p><p>The winning image will be mounted and exhibited in an end-of-year exhibition in the foyer gallery at the Guardian’s London office. Once the exhibition is finished digital printers <a href="http://www.point101.com/">Point 101</a> will send you a copy of your shot to place with pride on your own wall. The monthly winners will be entered for the overall prize, an incredible four-night trip to <a href="https://www.artisantravel.co.uk/holidays/lulea-fredrik-broman-photography-holiday">S&ouml;rbyn Lodge and the Aurora Safari Camp</a>, courtesy of Artisan Travel.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/03/readers-travel-photography-competition-march-colour">Continue reading...</a>TravelTue, 03 Mar 2015 05:55:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/mar/03/readers-travel-photography-competition-march-colourGuardian Staff2015-03-03T05:55:08ZWildlife on your doorstep: Marchhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/wildlife-on-your-doorstep-march
<p>With March arriving the northern hemisphere will be looking for early signs of spring, while the southern hemisphere is heading into its first weeks of autumn. We’d love to see your photos of the March wildlife near you</p><ul><li><a href="http://gu.com/p/464h7/stw">Readers’ February wildlife photos via GuardianWitness</a></li></ul><p>For the northern hemisphere March will hopefully mean milder and springlike weather leading up to Easter. For the southern hemisphere it signals the start of trees draped with autumn colours and colder temperatures . So what sort of wildlife will we all discover on our doorsteps? We’d love to see your photos of the March wildlife near you.</p><p>Share your photos and videos with us via GuardianWitness, and we’ll feature our favourites on the Guardian site.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/wildlife-on-your-doorstep-march">Continue reading...</a>WildlifeEnvironmentMon, 02 Mar 2015 12:56:28 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/02/wildlife-on-your-doorstep-marchTom Stevens and Guardian readers2015-03-02T12:56:28ZGeneral election 2015: Send us your schools questions for Ukiphttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/03/general-election-schools-questions-ukip
What would you like to ask Paul Nuttall, the UK Independence party’s education spokesman? Tweet or email us your questions now for our readers’ interview<p>Do you want to know more about Ukip’s ideas on fair admissions, free schools or the national curriculum? Tweet us using the hashtag #gdneduUkip, or email <a href="mailto:alice.woolley@guardian.co.uk">alice.woolley@guardian.co.uk</a> with UKIP QUESTION in the subject field. Questions by noon on Friday 6 March, please. Answers will appear online and in print.</p><p>Over to you.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/03/general-election-schools-questions-ukip">Continue reading...</a>SchoolsGeneral election 2015UK Independence party (Ukip)EducationEducation policyPoliticsTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:13:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/03/general-election-schools-questions-ukipGuardian Staff2015-03-03T07:13:09ZThe shape of things to come: share your art about the futurehttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/02/the-shape-of-things-to-come-share-your-art-about-the-future
<p>When you imagine the future, do you see flying cars or rising floods? Share your utopian or dystopian visions now<br></p><ul><li><a href="http://theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/mar/02/river-deep-mountain-high-readers-best-landscapes-in-pictures">River deep mountain high: readers’ best landscapes – in pictures</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/guardianwitness-blog/2014/dec/22/share-your-art-your-chance-to-be-exhibited-in-london-and-new-york">Your chance to be exhibited in London and New York</a></li></ul><p>How do you picture the future? Such a hazy concept can be tackled in many ways, and plenty of artists have done just that. The futurists saw art as a way to express their hatred of the past – which seemingly manifested itself as a loathing of sadness, sentimentality, syntax, moonlight, monotony, the tango, marriage, the papacy, modesty, museums, the nude <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jun/06/futurism-f-t-marinetti">and even pasta</a>. Others, like film-maker <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/fritz-lang">Fritz Lang</a>, explored the possibilities of a perfect future in the shape of glorious <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/may/22/architecture">visionary architecture</a>.</p><p>Whether bleak or hopeful, dystopian or utopian, it’s time for you to share your artistic interpretations of what’s to come. You can interpret the theme any way you like, and use any materials, from pen and ink to needlework or film. If you’d prefer to discuss your favourite artworks about the future, please do so in the comment thread – where we’d also love your suggestions for future Share Your Art themes. Thanks to <a href="http://discussion.theguardian.com/comment-permalink/46810586">Amnqchety</a> for this month’s suggestion.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/02/the-shape-of-things-to-come-share-your-art-about-the-future">Continue reading...</a>Art and designCultureArtCeramicsDrawingPaintingPhotographyIllustrationDesignSculptureArchitectureFritz LangMon, 02 Mar 2015 14:10:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/02/the-shape-of-things-to-come-share-your-art-about-the-futureMarta Bausells2015-03-02T14:10:19ZHow to get a 'rare glimpse' of North Koreahttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/north-korea-tourist-rare-glimpse-photos
<p>It’s become a cliche to boast of unseen footage from inside the secret state, but tourist Pierre Deport’s recent video stands out from the rest. He talked to <a href="http://www.nknews.org/2015/02/make-your-tourist-photo-in-n-korea-a-rare-glimpse/">NK News</a> about how best to go about it</p><p>Google “rare glimpse North Korea” and you will quickly find that the articles promising to show <a href="http://all-that-is-interesting.com/north-korea-photographs#1">“unique”</a>, “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/11/chris-marker-north-korea_n_6656686.html">ground-breaking</a>” images from inside the country are not so rare after all. </p><p>With so little information coming out of the country these images, often captured by tourists on tightly organised trips, claim to show the real North Korea but rarely provide extra insights. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2014/aug/20/north-korea-the-beach-in-pictures">Hanging out at the beach in North Korea – in pictures</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/north-korea-tourist-rare-glimpse-photos">Continue reading...</a>North KoreaNorth KoreaAsia PacificPhotographyTravelFri, 27 Feb 2015 05:00:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/27/north-korea-tourist-rare-glimpse-photosNK News, part of the North Korea network2015-02-27T05:00:11ZPhoto highlights of the dayhttp://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2015/mar/03/photo-highlights-of-the-day
<p>The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of the best photographs from around the world, including Volcano Villarrica in Chile, the Geneva motor show and light therapy at a hospital in Calabria<br></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2015/mar/03/photo-highlights-of-the-day">Continue reading...</a>News photographyWorld newsUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:17:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2015/mar/03/photo-highlights-of-the-dayMatt Fidler2015-03-03T13:17:57ZCritical, Wolf Hall, The World at War, The Great Painting Challenge and others: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/03/critical-wolf-hall-world-war-great-painting-challenge-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict <strong>Andrew Collins</strong> checks his pulse and wheels himself into new, real-time medical trauma drama Critical on Sky1; laments the end of Mark Rylance's face-acting in the sublime Wolf Hall on BBC2; celebrates Laurence Olivier's pronunciation on The World At War; watches acrylic dry with The Great Painting Challenge on BBC1; and enjoys the ride with Reginald D Hunter for Songs Of The South on BBC2. There's also room for a bit of Gogglebox<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: contains offensive language</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/03/critical-wolf-hall-world-war-great-painting-challenge-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:09:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/03/critical-wolf-hall-world-war-great-painting-challenge-tv-review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-03-03T11:09:56ZVolcano Villarrica erupts in Chile – in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/03/volcano-villarrica-erupts-chile-in-pictures
<p>The Volcano Villarrica in southern Chile began erupting in the early hours of Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,000 people <br></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/03/volcano-villarrica-erupts-chile-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>ChileVolcanoesAmericasNatural disasters and extreme weatherWorld newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:31:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/03/volcano-villarrica-erupts-chile-in-picturesGuardian Staff2015-03-03T15:31:08ZMass wedding ceremony in South Korea – in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/03/mass-wedding-ceremony-south-korea-pictures
<p>Thousands of couples have taken part in a mass wedding at the South Korean headquarters of the Unification Church</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/03/mass-wedding-ceremony-south-korea-pictures">Continue reading...</a>South KoreaWorld newsAsia PacificTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:22:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/mar/03/mass-wedding-ceremony-south-korea-picturesGuardian Staff2015-03-03T12:22:03Z'There's no life without music': the Malian musicians fighting Islamists with songs – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/mar/03/mali-musicians-they-will-have-to-kill-us-first-video
All <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/23/mali-militants-declare-war-music">music was banned</a> in northern Mali in 2012 by Islamist militants. But musicians such as Khaira Arby refused to accept it. The last two years have seen a collective of musicians taking Mali's rich musical heritage on a grand Caravan of Peace – an offshoot of Mali's famous Festival in the Desert. Created to celebrate Music Freedom Day, this short film is a companion to the feature length documentary They Will Have to Kill us First. Can the musicians of Mali rescue their music in exile? Featuring music from Songhoy Blues, Khaira Arby, Vieux Farka Touré and Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)<br /><br />• They Will Have To Kill Us First is screened at SXSW in Austin, Texas, next week<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2015/feb/27/songhoy-blues-music-in-exile-album-review-video">Why you should hear Songhoy Blues' album Music in Exile – video</a> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/mar/03/mali-musicians-they-will-have-to-kill-us-first-video">Continue reading...</a>MaliWorld newsAfricaAfrica ExpressWorld musicMusicCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/mar/03/mali-musicians-they-will-have-to-kill-us-first-videoSarah Mosses, Johanna Schwartz, Craig Walker and Charlie Phillips2015-03-03T12:00:00ZMohammed Emwazi audio: does it match the Isis executioner? - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/03/mohammed-emwazi-audio-isis-executioner-video
A clip from a taped interview with Mohammed Emwazi in 2009, obtained by the Guardian, in which he talks to human rights group Cage. The audio reveals Emwazi's distinctive London accent but is bereft of the mocking tone of 'Jihadi John', the Islamic State (Isis) executioner. In the extract Emwazi says he was told by MI5 they would be keeping a 'close eye' on him despite denying he was involved in extremist militancy <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/03/mohammed-emwazi-audio-isis-executioner-video">Continue reading...</a>Mohammed EmwaziIslamic State (Isis)World newsSyriaUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 08:38:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/03/mohammed-emwazi-audio-isis-executioner-videoGuardian Staff2015-03-03T08:38:00ZFatal attack on London teenager seen in CCTV video footagehttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/03/fatal-attack-on-london-teenager-cctv-video
In this CCTV film released by the Metropolitan police, 15-year-old Alan Cartwright is seen cycling along Caledonian Road in Islington, north London, with three friends on Friday evening when three suspects push them off their bikes and one stabs Alan in the chest. The suspects cycle off on the stolen bikes. Alan died a short time later from a single stab wound to the chest <br /><br /><strong>WARNING: some viewers may find these images distressing</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/03/fatal-attack-on-london-teenager-cctv-video">Continue reading...</a>Knife crimeLondonCrimeUK newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:36:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/03/fatal-attack-on-london-teenager-cctv-videoGuardian Staff2015-03-03T10:36:24ZNeill Blomkamp on Chappie: 'The planet is a place of inhumane action' - video interviewhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2015/mar/03/neill-blomkamp-chappie-video-interview
District 9 director Neill Blomkamp talks to Ben Child about robotic sentience, destroying Johannesburg and putting guns in all his movies. Chappie, a science fiction thriller about a robot who learns violence after living in a state of childlike innocence, is released in the UK and US on Friday <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2015/mar/03/neill-blomkamp-chappie-video-interview">Continue reading...</a>ChappieFilmNeill BlomkampScience fiction and fantasyTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:45:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2015/mar/03/neill-blomkamp-chappie-video-interviewBen Child and Henry Barnes2015-03-03T10:45:06ZDirect action! Seventy years of strikes in pictures from the GNM Archivehttp://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/gallery/2015/mar/03/direct-action-seventy-years-of-strikes-in-pictures-from-the-gnm-archive
<p>It is 30 years today since The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) voted to return to work on 3 March 1985 following one of the most fiercely fought industrial disputes of the century. Our new gallery looks back at some of the strike action covered in the Guardian and the Observer over the last seventy years. The series has been selected from<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/2"> original picture library files</a> now housed in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive">GNM Archive</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/gallery/2015/mar/03/direct-action-seventy-years-of-strikes-in-pictures-from-the-gnm-archive">Continue reading...</a>GNM archivePhotographyThe miners' strike 1984-85Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/gallery/2015/mar/03/direct-action-seventy-years-of-strikes-in-pictures-from-the-gnm-archiveHelen Swainger and Robin Christian2015-03-03T00:00:01ZCCTV: man throws brick at car window, knocks himself out - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/02/cctv-ireland-man-throws-brick-car-window-knocks-out-video
CCTV from an Irish pub shows a man throw a brick at a car window, only to be knocked out by the same brick. The suspected car thief, who is currently in police custody, is seen throwing stones at a Mercedes, which belongs to the pub's owner. He later throws a brick at the car windscreen, only to have it rebound into his face. The pub owner says the man tried to claim he was assaulted <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/02/cctv-ireland-man-throws-brick-car-window-knocks-out-video">Continue reading...</a>UK newsWorld newsIrelandMon, 02 Mar 2015 18:54:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/02/cctv-ireland-man-throws-brick-car-window-knocks-out-videoGuardian Staff2015-03-02T18:54:30ZCassetteboy remix the news: bribes for dodgy donors and Ed Miliband confesses – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/02/casssetteboy-remix-mashup-news-miliband-video
Mashup artists Cassetteboy edit the last month's TV news coverage, including David Cameron's promise to dodgy donors; tough questions for Nick Clegg; Fifa's revised plans for the Qatar World Cup; Greece's place in the eurozone; a confession from Ed Miliband; the replacement for Labour's pink battle-bus; and more bad news for Chelsea fans<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/feb/03/cassetteboy-remix-mashup-news-video">Watch Cassetteboy's remix of last month's news</a> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/02/casssetteboy-remix-mashup-news-miliband-video">Continue reading...</a>UK newsMon, 02 Mar 2015 09:54:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/mar/02/casssetteboy-remix-mashup-news-miliband-videoCassetteboy2015-03-02T09:54:00ZSimon Rattle: new concert hall was not precondition for accepting LSO jobhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-says-he-was-not-lured-to-the-lso-by-a-new-concert-hall
<p>Rattle, who takes over as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2017, denies appointment was dependent on venue being built</p><p>Sir Simon Rattle has said that his return to the UK as music director of the <a href="http://lso.co.uk/">London Symphony Orchestra</a> is not dependent on a new concert hall being built in the capital.</p><p>After a lengthy courtship, Rattle will take up his new role at the LSO in September 2017, as he sees out his tenure in charge of the Berlin Philharmonic.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-says-he-was-not-lured-to-the-lso-by-a-new-concert-hall">Continue reading...</a>Simon RattleLondon Symphony OrchestraClassical musicMusicCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:56:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/simon-rattle-says-he-was-not-lured-to-the-lso-by-a-new-concert-hallMark Brown, arts correspondent2015-03-03T19:56:35ZDJ in the playhouse: no gigs yet for Arch Jr – he's only two years oldhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/dj-in-the-playhouse-no-gigs-yet-for-arch-jr-hes-only-two-years-old
<p>DJ Arch Jr’s talent on the mixing deck has made him an internet sensation in South Africa – but he still has to be in bed by 8pm</p><p>There are not many DJs who play with toy cars, love watching Mickey Mouse and are in bed by 8pm on a week night. But then AJ Madumo Hlongwane is all of two years old.</p><p>The South African township prodigy has achieved social media fame through <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXc8ZRaGXoM">videos that show him in headphones, switching on decks, loading CDs, mixing music and dancing like a pro to the beat</a>. He has already begun a DJing course at college and been inundated with offers of gigs.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/dj-in-the-playhouse-no-gigs-yet-for-arch-jr-hes-only-two-years-old">Continue reading...</a>South AfricaAfricaMusicCultureDance musicElectronic musicChildrenTue, 03 Mar 2015 17:52:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/dj-in-the-playhouse-no-gigs-yet-for-arch-jr-hes-only-two-years-oldDavid Smith in Johannesburg2015-03-03T17:52:22ZFirst look at Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone dramahttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/joseph-gordon-levitt-edward-snowden-nsa-oliver-stone
<p>Get a first look at the Looper star as the NSA whistleblower in the Oscar-buzzed biopic<br></p><p>While this year’s Oscars have only just passed, 2016’s ceremony is a mere 12 months away and some early favourites are starting to be unveiled. Last week gave us <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/27/eddie-redmayne-transgender-lili-elbe-first-picture-danish-girl">a first look at Eddie Redmayne in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl</a> and now, we have a newly released still from Oliver Stone’s hotly tipped Snowden.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/24/oscars-2016-and-next-years-awards-will-go-to-">Oscars 2016: and next year's awards will go to …</a> </p><p>First day of shooting on Oliver Stone's &quot;SNOWDEN.&quot; PHOTO: <a href="http://t.co/T59wO5XJOb">http://t.co/T59wO5XJOb</a> <a href="http://t.co/Ubyp5a7cWj">pic.twitter.com/Ubyp5a7cWj</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/joseph-gordon-levitt-edward-snowden-nsa-oliver-stone">Continue reading...</a>Oliver StoneFilmEdward SnowdenCultureJoseph Gordon-LevittZachary QuintoNicolas CageMelissa LeoShailene WoodleyTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:58:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/joseph-gordon-levitt-edward-snowden-nsa-oliver-stoneBenjamin Lee2015-03-03T15:58:18ZMal Peet, award-winning children's author, dies aged 67http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/03/mal-peet-award-winning-childrens-author-dies-aged-67
<p>Tributes pour in for ‘one of the greatest YA authors’, who died on Monday</p><p>Authors and readers have taken to the internet to mourn the death – and celebrate the life – of the award-winning novelist <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/mal-peet">Mal Peet</a> who died on Monday night. </p><p>Peet, winner of the Carnegie medal and the Guardian children’s fiction prize, discovered he was terminally ill at Christmas. </p><p>Mal Peet, one of the greatest YA writers and a man I greatly admired (even when we disagreed!) has died. <a href="http://t.co/GR2dudYZtN">http://t.co/GR2dudYZtN</a></p><p>“He used to say the uglier things are the longer they live, and the ugliest things live forever.” -Mal Peet</p><p>I am sad beyond measure to hear of the death of my friend, the GREAT Carnegie Medal winner and YA writer Mal Peet. A gent &amp; a genius. :-(</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/justine_jordan">@justine_jordan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Patrick_Ness">@Patrick_Ness</a> Joining in this sadness. Goodbye to a good, thoughtful, funny person. Mal Peet.</p><p>Such sad news about Mal Peet. A wonderful writer and a lovely man.</p><p>So sad to hear of the death of wonderful author Mal Peet: <a href="http://t.co/elA1dHzjJG">http://t.co/elA1dHzjJG</a></p><p>Incredibly sad to hear that Carnegie Medal winner and all time great man and writer Mal Peet has died. Gutted.</p><p>Very, very sad to hear about Mal Peet. Keeper is one of the best children's books I've ever read.</p><p>Very upset to hear the news about Mal Peet's passing. He was such fun to work with. Such sad news.</p><p>Just heard the sad news about Mr. Mal Peet. He was so encouraging to me as a new writer on the block, and shall never forget his kindness.</p><p>Oh, for christ sake, now Mal Peet has died? Now, I have a very sad face.</p><p>So sad about Mal Peet. Thinking of his family and all friends lucky enough to work with him. <a href="http://t.co/ubaWRtaP2N">http://t.co/ubaWRtaP2N</a></p><p>Mal Peet died last night. Selfish to mourn the unwritten books; still, I do. Thoughts and prayers with his family.</p><p>Yes me too. Sad that is. Mr Mal Peet has left the world with some lovely books. Thank you.</p><p>I think my heart just cracked. What an enormous loss. <a href="http://t.co/N5B6u8sJzW">http://t.co/N5B6u8sJzW</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/03/mal-peet-award-winning-childrens-author-dies-aged-67">Continue reading...</a>BooksCultureMal PeetPatrick NessMichael RosenJohn GreenThe Fault in Our StarsTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:28:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/03/mal-peet-award-winning-childrens-author-dies-aged-67Marta Bausells2015-03-03T18:28:49ZRob Auton: the Brian Cox of comedyhttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/03/rob-auton-the-brian-cox-of-comedy
An award-winning joke about a chocolate bar gave the impression that Rob Auton was a ruthless gag-merchant. But his meandering, poetic shows, riffing on his amazement at the world, encompass a whole lot more than that<p>It’s when Rob Auton starts eulogising about mallards that the penny drops: he is comedy’s Brian Cox. Not because he has salt-and-pepper hair and bangs on about particle physics, but because of his sense of amazement and awe. The duck in question floats past on the nearby canal when Auton is making a point about the miracle of existence – and to him, it proves the perfect example. He has a habit of this doing sort of thing – so far in his short comedy career, he has devoted entire shows to the following pet subjects: yellow; the sky; and faces.</p><p>Auton’s shows feel more like presentations than anything to do with showbiz, and in them he does nothing more than speak dutifully – loyally, even – about his chosen topic, coming at it from every angle he can in an hour. They’re poetical, philosophical, humane, completely charming and funny to boot, and he has consequently become an underground hit in Edinburgh (quite literally – he performs in the same sweaty dungeon every fringe, and 2015 will be no exception).</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/aug/20/fringe-funniest-jokes-wispa-wisecrack-wins">Fringe's funniest jokes revealed – and Wispa wisecrack wins</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/03/rob-auton-the-brian-cox-of-comedy">Continue reading...</a>ComedyEdinburgh festivalStageCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 16:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/03/rob-auton-the-brian-cox-of-comedyPaul Fleckney2015-03-03T16:00:02ZSinan Antoon: an Iraqi novelist living in continuous mourninghttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/03/sinan-antoon-iraq-ave-maria-isis
<p>A forthcoming translation of Antoon’s third novel Ya Mariam, which comes in the wake of latest Isis atrocities, has Antoon wondering: ‘how do you write about a country that is disintegrating?’ </p><p>“How do you write about a country that is disintegrating?” says Sinan Antoon, on the line from his office at New York University. His words have taken on a more affective valency in recent days, as the notorious militants from Islamic State (Isis) released footage <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/26/isis-fighters-destroy-ancient-artefacts-mosul-museum-iraq">showing the graphic destruction</a> of Assyrian and Akkadian artefacts in Mosul’s central museum. </p><p>Talking about the litany of massacres and destructions that the well-funded group has left in the wake of its territorial expansion across Iraq and Syria, Antoon, who describes himself as an Iraqi novelist in America, says “I never imagined Isis”. He was one of a coterie of dissident diasporic Iraqi intellectuals who opposed the 2003 US occupation of his homeland that led to the current post-colonial quagmire. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/03/sinan-antoon-iraq-ave-maria-isis">Continue reading...</a>BooksIraqIslamic State (Isis)ReligionChristianityMiddle East and North AfricaUS newsTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:26:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/03/sinan-antoon-iraq-ave-maria-isisFarid Farid2015-03-03T19:26:32ZA pictorial obituary of Jared Leto's hair: 2012-2015http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2015/mar/03/a-pictorial-obituary-of-jared-letos-hair-2012-2015
<p>Jared Leto’s Hair, which was cut off last night in unforeseen circumstances, first gained prominence in the noughties during the actor’s teeth-cutting role as Jordan Catalano in My So-Called Life. But it wasn’t until spring 2012, around the time of his Oscar success in Dallas Buyers Club, that said Hair flourished, working its way through a plethora of pioneering colours, styles and lengths including the man bun, man braid, ombre and scrag-tail – styles that changed the follicular landscape for men on a worldwide scale. Pictures of the new haircut were revealed on social media by director David Ayer, who was responsible for the Hair’s swift demise after he cast Leto as The Joker in his new film <em>Suicide Squad</em>. It’s thought the Hair will be succeeded by Shia La Boeuf’s <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2015/03/shia-labeoufs-rattail-is-the-new-man-bun.html">rat-tail</a>. In the meantime, we chart its recent history, from 2012 to 2015<br></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2015/mar/03/a-pictorial-obituary-of-jared-letos-hair-2012-2015">Continue reading...</a>Men's hairFashionLife and styleBeautyJared LetoFilmCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:24:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2015/mar/03/a-pictorial-obituary-of-jared-letos-hair-2012-2015Morwenna Ferrier2015-03-03T14:24:03ZZachary Quinto: Leonard Nimoy was like a father to mehttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/zachary-quinto-leonard-nimoy-was-like-a-father-to-me
<p>Leonard Nimoy helped his replacement as Spock deal with the pressure of stepping into an iconic role. But Quinto remembers how a professional relationship soon developed into a close friendship</p><p>I first met Leonard Nimoy in 2007 at the Comic-Con conference in San Diego where it was announced I would be <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/may/04/zachary-quinto-spock-interview">taking over the role of Spock</a>. I was really excited to meet him and hopeful he would support me stepping into it. I never imagined how our meetings about the character would evolve into a very profound friendship.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/may/04/zachary-quinto-spock-interview">Zachary Quinto: 'Playing Spock was about cultivating an inner life'</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/feb/27/leonard-nimoy-spock-star-trek-career-appreciation">How Leonard Nimoy grew to love Spock as much as we did</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/feb/27/leonard-nimoy-a-life-in-pictures">Leonard Nimoy – a life in pictures</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/zachary-quinto-leonard-nimoy-was-like-a-father-to-me">Continue reading...</a>Zachary QuintoLeonard NimoyStar TrekScience fiction and fantasyFilmCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 12:25:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/zachary-quinto-leonard-nimoy-was-like-a-father-to-meZachary Quinto, as told to Rory Carroll2015-03-03T12:25:08ZEddie Redmayne invited to cameo on Neighbours after praising stars of showhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/eddie-redmayne-cameo-neighbours-karl-susan-kennedy
<p>Oscar winner calls actors who play Karl and Susan Kennedy ‘the greatest unsung acting duo in history’</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/26/halle-berry-oscar-winner-interview">Halle Berry: ‘If an Oscar winner tells you they can pick out hits, they’re lying!’</a> </p><p>After winning an Oscar, actors are given a rather short amount of time to utilise their moment in the spotlight and make some prime decisions as to what to work on next. Just ask Halle Berry. While it’s been pretty quiet so far from Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette and JK Simmons, best actor winner Eddie Redmayne has been difficult to avoid.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/feb/06/harold-from-neighbours-wants-a-good-movie-role-before-he-dies-write-him-one">Harold from Neighbours wants a good movie role before he dies. Write him one</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/eddie-redmayne-cameo-neighbours-karl-susan-kennedy">Continue reading...</a>Eddie RedmayneFilmTelevisionCultureNeighboursOscars 2015Soap operaTelevision & radioDramaTue, 03 Mar 2015 10:00:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/mar/03/eddie-redmayne-cameo-neighbours-karl-susan-kennedyBenjamin Lee2015-03-03T10:00:14ZWu-Tang Clan unveil sole copy of their new albumhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/wu-tang-clan-unveil-sole-copy-new-album
<p>On Monday night, RZA introduced 13 minutes of the 31-track Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, which will be auctioned off to a single person in order ‘to restore the concept of value to music’<br></p><p>“Instead of trying to sell the most records, we’re trying to sell the least,” says Tarik Azzougarh, the Wu-Tang Clan’s only non-American member (he’s from the Netherlands). Better known as Cilvaringz, he’s on stage at PS1, the Queens outpost of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, with his mentor, Wu producer and ringmaster<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/09/wu-tang-clan-rza-interview"> RZA,</a> and music journalist <a href="http://www.sashafrerejones.com/">Sasha Frere-Jones</a>. In front of them is a cedarwood box on a plinth covered with silver nickel filigree work and a plaque in the shape of the Wu-Tang Clan’s batlike logo, which the RZA calls “the illest album cover in the word”.<br /></p><p>However, the box is empty. Eventually, it will hold the sole copy of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the Wu-Tang Clan’s eighth and final album, currently in a vault in Marrakech, Morocco, and which is to be offered in a private sale by <a href="https://paddle8.com/">Paddle8</a>. And that literally is the only copy, or so RZA says. If it’s damaged or destroyed, there goes the record – there is no digital backup. Whoever buys it will also purchase the rights to the songs, though there are conditions – he or she will not be allowed to “commercialise” the music – in other words, to sell it. It’s like buying a painting, explains Cilvaringz from the stage. You own the canvas and the brushstrokes, but not the right to print postcards of the image and sell them.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/wu-tang-clan-will-let-buyer-of-their-one-off-album-release-it-after-88-years">Wu-Tang Clan will let buyer of their one-off album release it – after 88 years</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/wu-tang-clan-unveil-sole-copy-new-album">Continue reading...</a>Wu-Tang ClanMusicCultureArt and designHip-hopRapUrban musicTue, 03 Mar 2015 14:27:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/wu-tang-clan-unveil-sole-copy-new-albumAlex Needham2015-03-03T14:27:51ZCult heroes: Tahita Bulmer demands to be judged on her smarts, not her lookshttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/mar/03/cult-heroes-tahita-bulmer-demands-to-be-judged-on-her-smarts-not-her-looks
<p>NYPC might have been consigned to the new rave recycling centre, but they’re still out there, making clever, catchy records that deserve to be heard</p><p>Ask me about cult heroes, and I can already smell the dust. Because cult heroes always seem to belong to the past, don’t they? It’s a musky old business, like an archeological dig in a giant record crate: we rummage around looking for neglected names to excavate and re-evaluate with the benefit of hindsight. There’s an undeniable whiff of history about the whole thing.</p><p>But I don’t think you always need the safety net of elapsed time to spot a cult hero. They’re here right now, in their prime, walking and working among us – even if they’ve fallen between the cracks. Mine is Tahita Bulmer, lead singer of NYPC. In 2005, NYPC – or, as they were called then, New Young Pony Club – were monstrously hyped. In the past 10 years, they’ve slowly slipped out of mainstream favour. And yet, she and her band have carried on just the same, making music that’s ridiculously smart, fun, inventive and ambitious; the type of pop music we always say we crave. It baffles me that more people don’t seem to notice. <br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/mar/03/cult-heroes-tahita-bulmer-demands-to-be-judged-on-her-smarts-not-her-looks">Continue reading...</a>MusicPop and rockIndieElectronic musicCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:31:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/mar/03/cult-heroes-tahita-bulmer-demands-to-be-judged-on-her-smarts-not-her-looksBen Hewitt2015-03-03T15:31:16ZThe Teardrop Explodes: how we made Rewardhttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/how-we-made-reward-the-teardrop-explodes-julian-cope
Julian Cope, singer: ‘I became the&nbsp;acid king – I would ride imaginary horses to the studio’<p><br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/how-we-made-reward-the-teardrop-explodes-julian-cope">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockJulian CopeMusicCultureTue, 03 Mar 2015 07:59:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/03/how-we-made-reward-the-teardrop-explodes-julian-copeInterviews by Dave Simpson2015-03-03T07:59:10ZZoë Wanamaker: ‘I had a lot to live up to’http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/02/zoe-wanamaker-stevie-interview
As she prepares to play poet Stevie Smith, Zoë Wanamaker talks to Lyn Gardner about acting through grief, finding her voice – and why she has never performed in the theatre that bears her father’s name<p>“I really envy her,” says Zo&euml; Wanamaker of poet and novelist Stevie Smith. “She was a true original. I would have loved to have had her education and brain.” On stage, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/05/stevie-review-smith-minerva-chichester-zoe-wanamaker" title="">Wanamaker captures Smith’s larky, bruised spirit in Hugh Whitemore’s play Stevie</a>, which explores the singular life of the bard of Palmers Green. Smith, who lived in suburbia with her beloved maiden aunt, adored sherry, battenberg cake and Agatha Christie mysteries because “her murders are so polite”. Wanamaker clearly finds being interviewed a murderous experience, but she is far too polite to object. Instead, she hides behind a tablet on which she has written notes like a reluctant but glamorous mature student being forced to take an exam.</p><p>“She was much more articulate than I am, much more witty, but she has a self-deprecation that I can relate to. I feel she speaks for me a lot of the time. She wants to be heard, and we all want to be heard.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/02/zoe-wanamaker-stevie-interview">Continue reading...</a>TheatreZoe WanamakerPoetryStageCultureMon, 02 Mar 2015 17:53:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/02/zoe-wanamaker-stevie-interviewLyn Gardner2015-03-02T17:53:12Zhttp://www.theguardian.com/
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/">Continue reading...</a>Thu, 05 Feb 2015 11:47:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/Guardian Staff2015-02-05T11:47:35ZWatch Leon Golub's anti-Vietnam war art come to life – animationhttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/03/gigantomachy-ii-leon-golub-anti-vietnam-war-art-comes-to-life-animation
<p>A giant frieze painting by the American artist Leon Golub, who was prominent in the late 60s anti-war movement, is installed at the Serpentine Gallery in London</p><p>Leon Golub was a member of the Chicago School known as the Monster Roster. During the escalating American involvement in Vietnam, Golub joined the Artists and Writers Protest Group, becoming active in the anti-war movement. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/03/leon-golub-bite-your-tongue-serpentine-review-paintings-roar-chicago">Leon Golub: Bite your Tongue review – so terrific, the paintings roar off the walls</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/03/gigantomachy-ii-leon-golub-anti-vietnam-war-art-comes-to-life-animation">Continue reading...</a>PaintingArtTue, 03 Mar 2015 18:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/03/gigantomachy-ii-leon-golub-anti-vietnam-war-art-comes-to-life-animationDavid Levene for the Guardian2015-03-03T18:02:00Z